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THE NEW TESTAMENT 



THE 

NEW TESTAMENT 

A NEW TRANSLATION 



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BY 

JAMES MOFFATT 

D.D., D.LiTT. 

YATES PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT GREEK AND EXEGESIS^ 
MANSFIELD COLLEGE, OXFORD 



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HODDER AND STOUGHTON 

NEW YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



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NOV 25 1914 / 









PREFACE 

In his essay on Protestantism, de Quincey has a characteristic para- 
graph upon the popular delusion that " every idea and word which exists, 
or has existed, for any nation, ancient or modern, must have a direct 
interchangeable equivalent in all other languages." No one who attempts 
to translate any part of the New Testament is likely to remain very long 
under such a delusion. Thus there is no exact English equivalent for 
terms like Xoyos and fiva-rrjpLov and St/caiocrvvi;. The first of these I have 
simply transliterated once or twice ; ' Logos ' is at any rate less mis- 
leading than ' Word ' would be to a modem reader. Even when an 
equivalent can be got for some New Testament term like eOvrj or "AiSi/s, 
it cannot be used invariably. I have kept " Gentiles " for Wvyj in cases 
where the contrast between Judaism and the outer world is prominent; 
if Kipling's " Recessional " was intelligible to modern readers, " Gentiles " 
here should not cause them undue difficulty. But now and then the Greek 
term carries a sense which can only be represented by our " pagans " or 
" heathen," and occasionally it is no more than " nations." This will 
serve as an illustration of the difficulties which confront a translator. 
But once the translation of the New Testament is freed from the influence 
of the theory of verbal inspiration, these difficulties cease to be so formid- 
able. I have tried not to sacrifice the spirit to the letter. It is true, as 
de Quincey observes in the same essay, that " the great ideas of the Bible 
protect themselves. The heavenly truths, by their own imperishableness, 
defeat the mortality of languages with which for a moment they are 
associated." Still, this is a victory in which even the camp-followers or 
translators have a modest share. They can or they should further this 
linguistic triumph. Hellenistic Greek has its own defects, from the point 
of view of the classical scholar, but it is an eminently translatable 
language, and the evidence of papyrology shows it was more flexible than 
once was imagined. My intention, therefore, has been to produce a 



PREFACE 

version which will to some degree represent the gains of recent lexical 
research and also prove readable. I have attempted to translate the New 
Testament exactly as one would render any piece of contemporary 
Hellenistic prose ; in this way, students of the original text may perhaps 
be benefited. But I hope also that the translation may fall into the hands 
of some who know how to freshen their religious interest in the meaning 
of the New Testament by reading it occasionally in some unauthorized 
English or foreign version, as well as into the hands of others who for 
various reasons neglect the Bible even as an English classic. This is a 
hope which, no doubt, is accompanied with some risks and fears. Every 
translation has to face a double ordeal. Some of its readers know the 
original, some do not, and both classes have to be met. " The English 
reader," as Dr. Rouse remarks, " may be quite competent to judge of 
a translation as literature and as intelligible or not intelligible, but he 
cannot judge of its accuracy. The scholar alone can judge of its accuracy, 
but (granting that he has literary taste) he knows the original too well to 
be independent of it, and hence cannot judge of the impression which the 
translation will make on the minds of those who are not scholars." If this 
is true of Homer, it is three times true of the New Testament. Any new 
translation starts under a special handicap. It appears to challenge in 
every line the rhythm and diction of an English classic, and this irritates 
many who have no knowledge of the original. The old, they say, is better. 
They are indifferent to the changes which recent grammatical research 
has necessitated in the translation of the aorist, the article, and the 
particles, for example, even since the Revised Version of 1881 was made. 
But intelligibility is more than associations, and to atone in part for 
the loss of associations I have endeavoured to make the New Testament, 
especially St. Paul's epistles, as intelligible to a modern English reader as 
any version that is not a paraphrase can hope to make them. 

This raises one of the numerous points of difficulty that beset the trans- 
lator. How far is he justified in modernizing an Oriental book ? How 
far can he assume that certain turns of expression have become naturalized 
in English by the Authorized Version itself? I have never seen any 
satisfactory solution of this problem, and I have not been able to find one. 
However, it is superfluous to discuss such matters at length. This is not 
the place to develop any theories on the subject. What the general public 



PREFACE 

cares for is a translator's practice rather than his principles, and students 
can easily detect the latter, or the lack of them, in the former. 

I wish only to add this caution, that a translator appears to be more 
dogmatic than he really is. He must come down on one side of the fence 
or on the other. He has often to decide on a rendering, or even on the 
text of a passage, when his own mind is by no means clear and certain. 
In a number of cases, therefore, when the evidence is conflicting, I must 
ask scholars and students to believe that a line has been taken only after 
long thought and only with serious hesitation. 

The translation has been made from the text recently issued by Von 
Soden of Berlin, but I have not invariably followed his arrangement and 
punctuation. Wherever I have felt obliged to adopt a different reading, 
this is noted at the foot of the page. 

Quotations or direct reminiscences of the Old Testament are printed 
in italics. 

The books are arranged for the convenience of the general reader in 
the order of the English Bible. This applies to the order of chapters as 
well. Thus the last four chapters of Second Corinthians appear in their 
usual canonical position instead of in what I believe to be their original 
position between First and Second Corinthians. The only exception 
I have made to this rule is in the case of some occasional transpositions 
either of verses or of paragraphs, for example, in the case of the Fourth 
Gospel. Any one who cares to look into the evidence for such changes 
will find it in my Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, 

Lastly, it is right to add that I have not consulted any other version 
of the New Testament in preparing this work, though probably echoes 
and reminiscences have clung to one's mind. The only version I have 
kept before me is the one I prepared thirteen years ago for my Historical 
New Testament. But the present version is not a revision of that. It is 
an independent work. I agreed to undertake it with sharp misgivings, 
but I trust that the spirit and method of its composition may at any rate 
do something to make some parts of the New Testament more intelligible 
to some readers. 

James Moffatt. 

191S, 



vii 



CONTENTS 



MATTHEW. , 1 

MAKK 43 

LUKE 69 

JOHN . . . 113 

ACTS 145 

ROMANS 187 

L CORINTHIANS . .205 

n. CORINTHIANS . . 223 

GALATIANS 234 

EPHESIANS 240 

PHILIPPIANS 246 

COLOSSIANS 250 

I. THESSALONIANS 254 

n, THESSALONIANS 258 

L TIMOTHEUS 261 

n. TIMOTHEUS 266 

TITUS . • . . . . . . . .270 

PHILEMON 272 

HEBREWS 273 

JAMES 286 

ix 



CONTENTS 



T. PETER , 
II. PETER . 
I. JOHN . 
n. JOHN . 
m. JOHN . 
JUDAS 
•REVELATION 



291 
296 
299 



306 
SOP 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 

S. MATTHEW 



OHAff. 

1 The birth-roll of Jesus Christ, 
the son of David, the son of Abra- 
ham. 

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, 
Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob 
the father of Judah and his 

3 brothers, Judah the father of Perez 
and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the 
father of Hezron, Hezron the father 

4 of Aram, Aram the father of Amin- 
adab, Aminadab the father of Nah- 
shon, Nahshon the father of Sal- 

5 mon, Salmon the father of Boaz 
by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed 
by Ruth, Obed the father of Jessai, 

6 and Jessai the father of king David. 

David was the father of Solomon 

7 by Uriah's wife, Solomon the father 
of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father 
of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 

8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Je- 
hoshaphat the father of Joram, 

9 Joram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah 
the father of Jotham, Jotham the 
father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of 

10 Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of 
Manasseh, Manasseh the father of 
Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 

11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah 
and his brothers at the period of 

12 the Babylonian captivity. After 
the Babylonian captivity, Jecho- 
niah was the father of Shealtiel, 
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, 
Abiud the father of Eliakim, Elia- 

14 kim the father of Azor, Azor the 
father of Zadok, Zadok the father 
of Achim, Achim the lather of 

15 Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, 



Eleazar the father of Matthan, Mat- 
than the father of Jacob, Jacob 16 
the father of Joseph, and Joseph 
(to whom the virgin Mary was 
betrothed) the father of Jesus, who 
is called ' Christ.' 

Thus all the generations from 17 
Abraham to David number four- 
teen, from David to the Babylonian 
captivity fourteen, and from the 
Babylonian captivity to Christ 
fourteen. 

The birth of Jesus Christ came 18 
about thus. His mother Mary 
was betrothed to Joseph, but be- 
fore they came together she was 
discovered to be pregnant by the 
holy Spirit. As Joseph her hus- 19 
band was a just man but unwilling 
to disgrace her, he resolved to 
divorce her secretly ; but after he 20 
had planned this, there appeared 
an angel of the Lord to him in 
a dream saying, " Joseph, son of 
David, fear not to take Mary your 
wife home, for what is begotten in 
her comes from the holy Spirit. 
She will bear a son, and you will 21 
call him ' Jesus,' for he will save 
his people from their sins." All 22 
this happened for the fulfilment of 
what the Lord had spoken by the 
prophet : 

The maiden will conceive and 23 
hear a son, 

and his name will be called 
Immanuel 
(which may be translated, God is 
with us). So on waking from sleep 24 
Joseph did as the angel of the Lord 



S. MATTHEW U 



had commanded him; he took his 
25 wife home, but he did not hve with 
her as a husband till she bore a son, 
whom he called Jesus. 

OHAP. 

2 Now when Jesus was born at 
Bethlehem, belonging to Judaea, 
in the days of king Herod, magi- 
cians from the East arrived at 

2 Jerusalem, asking, " Where is the 
newly-born king of the Jews ? We 
saw his star when it rose, and 
we have come to worship him." 

3 The news of this troubled king 
Herod and all Jerusalem as 

I 4 well ; so he gathered all the high 
priests and scribes of the people 
and made inquiries of them 
about where the messiah was 

5 to be born. They told him, " In 
Bethlehem belonging to Judaea : 
for thus it is written by the 
prophet : 

6 And you Bethlehem, in Judah's 

land. 
You are not least among the 
rulers of Judah : 
For a ruler will come from 
you. 
Who will shepherd Israel my 
people," 

7 Then Herod summoned the magi- 
cians in secret and ascertained 
from them the time of the star's 

8 appearance. He also sent them 
to Bethlehem, telling them, " Go 
and make a carefid search for 
the child, and when you have 
found him report to me, so 
that I can go and worship him 

9 too." The magicians listened to 
the king and then went their 
way. And the star they had seen 
rise went in front of them till it 
stopped over the place where the 

10 child was. When they caught sight 
of the star they were intensely glad. 



And on reaching the house they saw 11 
the child with his mother Mary, 
they fell down to worship him, 
and opening their caskets they 
offered him gifts of gold and frank- 
incense and myrrh. Then, as they 12 
had been divinely warned in a 
dream not to return to Herod, they 
went back to their own country by 
a different road. 

After they had gone, there ap- 13 
peared an angel of the Lord to 
Joseph in a dream, saying, " Rise, 
take the child and his mother and 
flee to Egypt ; stay there till I tell 
you. For Herod is going to search 
for the child and destroy him." 
So he got up, took the child and his 14 
mother by night, and went off to 
Egypt, where he stayed until the 15 
death of Herod. This was to fulfil 
what the Lord had said by the 
prophet : I called my Son from 
Egypt. 

Then Herod saw the magicians 16 
had trifled with him, and he was 
furiously angry; he sent and slew 
all the male children in Bethlehem 
and in all the neighbourhood who 
were two years old or imder, calcu- 
lating by the time he had ascer- 
tained from the magicians. Then 17 
the saying was fulfilled which had 
been uttered by the prophet Jere- 
miah : 

A cry was heard in Rama, 18 

weeping and sore lamentation — 

Rachel weeping for her children, 
and inconsolable because they 
are no more. 

But when Herod died, there ap- 19 
peared an angel of the Lord in a 
dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 
" Rise, take the child and his 
mother and go to the land of Israel, 
for those who sought the child's 
life are dead." So he rose, took 21 
the child and his mother and went 



S. MATTHEW III, IV 



22 to the land of Israel ; but on hear- 
ing that Archelaus reigned over 
Judaea in place of his father Herod, 
he was afraid to go there and, by 
a divine injunction in a dream, 
withdrew to the region of Galilee. 

23 He went and settled in a town 
called Nazaret, so that what had 
been said by the prophets might 
be fulfilled : * He shall be called a 
Nazarene.' 

CHAP. 

3 In those days John the Baptist 
came on the scene, preaching in the 

2 desert of Judaea, " Repent, the 
8 Reign of heaven is near." (This 
was the man spoken of by the 
prophet Isaiah : 

The voice of one who cries in the 
desert, 
^Mdke the way ready for the 

Lord, 
level the paths for him,'') 

4 This John had his clothes made of 
camel's hair, with a leather girdle 
round his loins ; his food was locusts 

5 and wild honey. Then Jerusalem 
and the whole of Judaea and all the 
Jordan-district went out to him 

6 and got baptized by him in the 

7 Jordan, confessing their sins. But 
when he noticed a number of the 
Pharisees and Sadducees coming 
for his baptism, he said to them, 
" You brood of vipers, who told you 
to flee from the coming Wrath? 

8 Now produce fruit that answers to 

9 your repentance, instead of pre- 
suming to say to yourselves, * We 
have a father in Abraham.' I tell 

« you, God can raise up children for 
10 Abraham from these stones ! The 
axe is lying all ready at the root 
of the trees; any tree that is not 
producing good fruit will be 
cut down and thrown into the 
fire. 



I baptize you with water for 11 
repentance, 
but he who is coming after me 

is mightier, 
and I am not fit even to carry > 

his sandals ; 
he will baptize you with the 

holy Spirit and fire. 
His winno wing-fan is in his 12 

hand, 
he will clean out his threshing- 
floor, 
his wheat he will gather into 

the granary, 
but the straw he will burn with 
fire unquenchable." 
Then Jesus came on the scene 13 
from Galilee, to get baptized by 
John at the Jordan. John tried 14 
to prevent him ; " I need to get 
baptized by you," he said, " and 
you come to me ! " But Jesus 15 
answered him, " Come now, this 
is how we should fulfil all our duty 
to God." Then John gave in to 
him. Now when Jesus had been 16 
baptized, the moment he rose out 
of the water, the heavens opened 
and he saw the Spirit of God coming 
down like a dove upon him. And 17 
a voice from heaven said, 

' This is my Son, the Beloved, 
in him is my delight.' 



Then Jesus was led into the 4 
desert by the Spirit to be tempted 
by the devil. He fasted forty days 2 
and forty nights and afterwards felt 
hungry. So the tempter came up 3 
and said to him, " If you are God's 
Son, tell these stones to become 
loaves." He answered, "It is 4 
written, 

Man is not to live on bread 
alone, 
hut on every word that issues 
from the mouth of God" 



S. MATTHEW V 



5 Then the devil conveyed him to 
the holy city and, placing him on 

6 the pinnacle of the temple, said 
to him, " If you are God's Son, 
throw yourself down; for it is 
written. 

He will give his angels charge of 

you ; 
they will hear you on their hands, 
lest you strike your foot against a 

stone J'^ 

7 Jesus said to him, " It is written 
again, You shall not tempt the Lord 

8 your God" Once more the devil 
conveyed him to an exceedingly 
high mountain and showed him all 
the realms of the world and their 

9 grandeur ; he said, " I will give you 
all that if you will fall down and 

10 worship me." Then Jesus told 
him, " Begone, Satan ! it is written, 
You must worship the Lord your 

11 Gody and serve him alone." At 
this the devil left him, and 
angels came up and ministered to 
him. 

12 Now v/hen Jesus heard that 
John had been arrested, he with- 

13 drew to Galilee ; he left Nazaret 
and settled at Capharnahum beside 
the lake, in the territory of Zebulun 

14 and Naphtali — for the fulfilment 
of what had been said by the 
prophet Isaiah : 

15 Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali 
lying to the sea, across the 

Jordan, 
Galilee of the Gentiles ! 

16 The people who sat in darkness 

saw a great light, 
yea light dawned on those who 
sat in the land and the shadow 
of death. 

17 From that day Jesus began to 
preach, saying, " Repent, the Reign 
of heaven is near." 

18 As he was walking along the 
sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, 



Simon (who is called Peter) and 
his brother Andrew, casting a net 
in the sea— for they were fisher- 
men ; so he said to them, " Come, 19 
follow me, and I will make you 
fish for men." And they dropped 20 
their nets at once and followed 
him. Then going on from there 21 
he saw two other brothers, James 
the son of Zebedaeus and his brother 
John, mending their nets in the 
boat beside their father Zebedaeus. 
He called them, and they left the 22 
boat and their father at once, and 
went after him. 

Then he made a tour through 23 
the whole of Galilee, teaching in 
their synagogues, preaching the 
gospel of the Reign, and healing 
all the sickness and disease of the 
people. The fame of him spread all 24 
through the surrounding country,* 
and people brought him all their 
sick, those who suffered from all 
manner of disease and pain, de- 
moniacs, lunatics, and paralytics; 
he healed them all. And he was 25 
followed by great crowds from 
Galilee and Decapolis and Jeru- 
salem and Judaea and from across 
the Jordan. 

CHAP. 

So when he saw the crowds, he 5 
went up the hill and sat down ; his 
disciples came up to him and he 2 
opened his lips and began to teach 
them. He said : 

"Blessed are those who feel poor 3 
in spirit ! 
the Realm of heaven is theirs. 
Blessed are the mourners 1 4 

they will be consoled. 



* I accept Blass's suggestion that 'S.vpiav 
here is a corruption of crwoplav (see Mark 
i. 28), which is actually read by one 
uncial manuscript r. 



S. MATTHEW V 



5 Blessed are the humble f 

they will inherit the earth, 

6 Blessed are those who hunger 

and thirst for goodness! 
they will be satisfied. 

7 Blessed are the merciful I 

they will find mercy. 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart I 

they will see God. 

9 Blessed are the peacemakers ! 

they will be ranked sons of 
God. 

10 Blessed are those who have been 

persecuted for the sake of 
goodness I 
The Realm of heaven is theirs. 

11 Blessed are you when men 
denounce you and persecute you 
and utter all manner of evil against 

12 you for my sake; rejoice and 
exult in it, for your reward is 
rich in heaven; that is how they 
persecuted the prophets before you. 

13 You are the salt of the earth. 
But if salt becomes insipid, what 
can make it salt again ? After that 
it is fit for nothing, fit only to be 
thrown outside and trodden by the 
feet of men. 

14 You are the light of the world, 
A town on the top of a hill cannot 

15 be hidden. Nor do men light a 
lamp to put it under a bowl ; they 
put it on a stand and it shines for 

16 all in the house. So your light is 
to shine before men, that they may 
see the good you do and glorify 
your Father in heaven. 

17 Do not imagine I have come to 
destroy the Law or the prophets; 
I have not come to destroy but to 

18 fulfil. (I tell you truly, till heaven 
and earth pass away not an iota, 
not a comma, will pass from the 
Law until it is all in force. There- 
fore 

19 whoever relaxes a single one of 

these commands, were it 



even one of the least, and 

teaches men so, 
he will be ranked least in the 
Realm of heaven; 
but whoever obeys them and 
teaches them, 
he will be ranked great in the 
Realm of heaven.) For I 20 
tell you, unless your goodness 
excels that of the scribes and Phari- 
sees, you will never get into the 
Realm of heaven. 

You have heard how the men of 21 
old w^ere told, ^Murder not : 

whoever murders must come up 

for sentence,* 
whoever maligns his brother must 22 

come before the Sanhedrin, 
whoever curses his brother must 
go to the fire of Gehenna.' 
But I tell you, whoever is angry 
with his brother will be sentenced 
by God. So if you remember, even 23 
when you are offering your gift at 
the altar, that your brother has any 
grievance against you, leave your 24 
gift at the very altar and go away ; 
first be reconciled to your brother, 
then come back and offer your gift. 

Be quick and make terms with 25 
your opponent, so long as you and 
he are on the way to court, in case 
he hands you over to the judge, and 
the judge to the jailer, and you are 
thrown into prison; truly I tell 26 
you, you will never get out till you 
pay the last halfpenny of your debt. 

You have heard how it used to 27 
be said. Do not commit adultery. 
But I tell you, any one who even 28 
looks with lust at a woman has 
committed adultery with her al- 
ready in his heart. 

* I follow the suggestion that the 
second and third clauses of ver. 22 
should be restored to what seems to be 
their original position as a rabbinic 
coxumeut upon the closing words of ver. 21. 

4 



S. MATTHEW VI 



29 If your right eye is a hindrance 

to you, 
pluck it out and throw it away : 
better for you to lose one of your 

members 
than to have all your body 

thrown into Gehenna. 

30 And if your right hand is a hind- 

rance to you, 
cut it off and throw it away : 
better for you to lose one of your 
members 
than to have all your body 
thrown into Gehenna. 

31 It used to be said, Whoever 
divorces his wife must give her a 

32 divorce-certificate. But I tell you, 
anyone who divorces his wife for 
any reason except unchastity makes 
her an adulteress, and whoever 
marries a divorced woman commits 
adultery. 

33 Once again, you have heard how 
the men of old were told, 'You must 
not forswear yourself but discharge 

34 your vows to the Lord \ But I tell 
you, you must not swear any oath, 

neither by heaven, 

for it is the throne of God, 

35 nor by earth, 

for it is the footstool of his feet, 
nor by Jerusalem, 

for it is the city of the great 
King ; 

36 nor shall you swear by your head, 

for you cannot make a single 
hair white or black. 

37 Let what you say be simply 

' yes ' or * no ' ; 
whatever exceeds that springs 
from evil. 

38 You have heard the saying. An 
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, 

39 But I tell you, you are not to resist 
an injury : 

whoever strikes you on the right 
cheek, 
turn the other to him as well ; 



whoever wants to sue you for 40 
your shirt, 
let him have your coat as well ; 
whoever forces you to go one 41 
mile, 
go two miles with him ; 
give to the man who begs from 42 
you, 
and turn not away from him 
who wants to borrow. 
You have heard the saying, *'You 43 
must love your neighbour and hate 
your enemy.' But I tell you, 44 
love your enemies and pray for 
those who persecute you, that you 45 
may be sons of your Father in 
heaven : 

he makes his sun rise on the evil 
and the good, 
and sends rain on the just and 
the unjust. 
For if you love only those who 46 
love you, what reward do 
you get for that ? 
do not the very taxgatherers 
do as much? 
and if you only salute your 47 
friends, what is special about 
that? 
do not the very pagans do as 
much ? 
You must he perfect as your 48 
heavenly Father is perfect. 



Take care not to practise your 6 
charity before men in order to 
be noticed; otherwise you get 
no reward from your Father in 
heaven. No, 

When you give alms, 2 

make no flourish of trumpets like 
the hypocrites in the syna- 
gogues and the streets, 
so as to win applause from 
men; 
I tell you truly, they do get 
their reward. 



S. MATTHEW VI 



8 When you give alms, 

do not let your left hand know 
what your right hand is 
doing, 

4 so as to keep your alms secret ; 

then your Father who sees 
what is secret will reward 
you openly.* 

5 Also, when you pray, you must not 

be like the ihypocrites, 
for they like to stand and pray in 
the synagogues and at the 
street-corners, 
so as to be seen by men ; 
I tell you truly, they do get 
their reward. 

6 When you pray, 

go into your room and shut the 
door, 
pray to your Father who is in 
secret, 
and your Father who sees 
what is secret will reward 
you. 

7 Do not pray by idle rote like 

pagans, 
for they suppose they will be 
heard the more they say ; 

8 you must not copy them ; 

your Father knows your needs 
before you ask him. 

9 Let this be how you pray : 

' our Father in heaven, 
thy name be revered, 

10 thy Reign begin, 
thy will be done 

on earth as in heaven I 

11 give us to-day our bread for 

the morrow, 

12 and forgive us our debts 

as we ourselves have for- 
given our debtors, 
18 and lead us not into tempta- 

tion 
but deliver us from evil.' 

* Retaining iv tQ (f>avep^, which has 
powerful support in the Old Latin and 
Sjnriac versions. 



For if you forgive men their tres- 14 
passes, 
then your heavenly Father will 
forgive you ; 
but if you do not forgive men, 15 

your Father will not forgive your 
trespasses either. 
When you fast, 16 

do not look gloomy like the hypo- 
crites, 
for they look woebegone to let 
men see they are fasting ; 
I tell you truly, they do get 
their reward. 
But when you fast, 17 

anoint your head and wash j^our 
face, 
so that your fast may be seen 18 
not by men but by your 
Father who is in secret, 
and your Father who sees 
what is secret will reward 
you. 
Store up no treasures for your- 19 
selves on earth, 
where moth and rust corrode, 
where thieves break in and 
steal : 
store up treasures for yourselves 20 
in heaven, 
where neither moth nor rust 
corrode, 
where thieves do not break in 
and steal. 
For where your treasure lies, 21 

your heart will lie there too. 
The eye is the lamp of the body : 22 
so, if your Eye is generous, 

the whole of your body will be 
illumined, 
but if your Eye is selfish, 23 

the whole of your body will be 
darkened. 
And if your very light turns dark, 

then — what a darkness it is ! 
No one can serve two masters : 24 
either he will hate one and love 
the other, 

7 



S. MATTHEW VII 



or else he will stand by the one 
and despise the other — 
you cannot serve both God and 
Mammon. 

25 Therefore I tell you, 

do not trouble about what you 
are to eat in life, 
nor about what you are to 
put on your body ; 
surely life means more than food, 
surely the body means more 
than clothes ! 

26 Look at the wild birds ; 

they sow not, they reap not, 

they gather nothing in 

granaries, 
and yet your heavenly Father 

feeds them. 
Are you not worth more than 

birds ? 

27 Which of you can add an ell to 

his height by troubling 
about it ? 

28 And why should you trouble 

over clothing? 
Look how the lilies of the field 
grow; 
they neither toil nor spin, 

29 and yet, I tell you, even Solo- 

mon in aU his grandeur 
was never robed Uke one 
of them. 

30 Now if God so clothes the grass of 
the field which blooms to-day and 
is thrown to-morrow into the fur- 
nace, VTill not he much more clothe 
you ? O men, how little you trust 

31 him ! Do not be troubled, then, 
and cry, ' What are we to eat ? ' or 
' what are we to drink ? ' or ' how 

32 are we to be clothed ? ' (pagans 
make all that their aim in life) for 
your heavenly Father knows quite 

33 well you need all that. Seek his 
Realm and goodness, and all that 
will be yours over and above. 

34 So do not be troubled about to- 

morrow ; 



to-morrow will take care of 

itself. 
The day's own trouble is quite 

enough for the day. 

CHAP. 

Judge not, that you may not be 7 

judged yourselves; 
for as you judge so you will be 2 

judged, 
and the measure you deal out to 
others will be dealt out to 
yourselves. 
Why do you note the splinter in 3 
your brother's eye and fail to see 
the plank in your own eye ? How 4 
can you say to your brother, ' Let 
me take out the splinter from your 
eye,' when there lies the plank in 
your own eye ? You hypocrite ! 5 
take the plank out of your own eye 
first, and then you will see properly 
how to take the splinter out of your 
brother's eye. 

Do not give dogs what is sacred 6 
and do not throw, pearls before 
sv^dne, in case they trample them 
under foot and turn to gore 
you. 

Ask and the gift will be yours, 7 
seek and you v^ll find, 

knock and the door will 
open to you ; 
for every one who asks receives, 8 
the seeker finds, 

the door is opened to any- 
one who knocks. 
Why, which of you, when asked 9 
by his son for a loaf, will 
hand him a stone ? 
Or, if he asks a fish, will you 10 
hand him a serpent ? 
Well, if for all your evil you 11 
know to give your children 
what is good, 
how much more will your 
Father in heaven give good 
gifts to those who ask him ? 



S. MATTHEW VIII 



12 Well then, whatever you would 
like men to do to you, do just the 
same to them ; that is the meaning 
of the Law and the prophets. 

13 Enter by the narrow gate : 

for [the gate] is broad and the 
road is wide that leads to 
destruction, 
and many enter that way. 

14 But the road that leads to 

life is both narrow and 
close, 
and there are few who find 
it. 

15 Beware of false prophets; they 
come to you with the garb of sheep 
but at heart they are ravenous 

16 wolves. You will know them by 
their fruit; do men gather grapes 
from thorns or figs from thistles? 
No, 

17 every good tree bears sound 

fruit, 
but a rotten tree bears bad 
fruit ; 

18 a good tree cannot bear bad 

fruit, 
and a rotten tree cannot bear 
sound fruit. 

20 So you will know them by their 

19 fruit.* Any tree that does not 
produce sound fruit will be cut 
down and thrown into the fire. 

21 It is not everyone who says to 
me ' Lord, Lord I ', who will get into 
the Realm of heaven, but he who 
does the will of my Father in 

22 heaven. Many will say to me at 
that Day, * Lord, Lord, did we not 
prophesy in your name? did we 
not cast out daemons in your name ? 
did we not perform many miracles 

23 in your name ? ' Then I will de- 
clare to them, ' I never knew you ; 

* Ver. 19 is repeated from iii. 10; to 
preserve the proper sequence of thought, 
it must be placed after ver. 20 as a link 
with the following paragraph. 



depart from my presence, you workers 
of iniquity,^ 

Now, everyone who listens to 24 
these words of mine and acts upon 
them will be like a sensible man 
who built his house on rock. The 25 
rain came down, the floods rose, 
the winds blew and beat upon that 
house, but it did not fall, for it was 
founded on rock. And everyone 26 
who listens to these words of mine 
and does not act upon them will 
be like a stupid man who built his 
house on sand. The rain came 27 
down, the floods rose, the wdnds 
blew and beat upon that house, 
and down it fell — with a mighty 
crash." 

When Jesus finished his speech, 28 
the crowds were astounded at his 
teaching; for he taught them like 29 
an authority, not like their own 
scribes. 

CHAP. 

When he came down from the 8 
hill, he was followed by large 
crowds. A leper came up and knelt 2 
before him, saying, " If you only 
choose, sir, you can cleanse me " ; 
so he stretched his hand out and 3 
touched him, with the words, " I 
do choose, be cleansed." And his 
leprosy was cleansed at once. Then 4 
Jesus told him, " See, you are not 
to say a word to anybody; away 
and show yourself to the priest and 
offer the gift prescribed by Moses, 
to notify men." 

When he entered Capharnahum 5 
an army-captain came up to him 
and appealed to him, saying, " Sir, 6 
my servant is lying ill at home with 
paralysis, in terrible agony." He 7 
replied, " I will come and heal him." 
The captain answered, " Sir, I am 8 
not fit to have you under my roof ; 
only say the word, and my servant 
will be cured. For though I am 9 



S. MATTHEW VIII 



a man under authority myself, 
I have soldiers under me; I tell 
one man to go, and he goes, I tell 
another to come, and he comes, 
I tell my servant, ' Do this,' and 

10 he does it." When Jesus heard 
that he marvelled ; " I tell you 
truly," he said to his followers, " I 
have never met faith like this any- 

11 where even in Israel. Many, I tell 
you, will come from east and west 
and take their places beside Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Realm 

12 of heaven, while the sons of the 
Realm will pass * outside, into the 
darkness ; there men will wail and 

13 gnash their teeth." Then Jesus 
said to the captain, " Go ; as you 
have had faith, your prayer is 
granted." And the servant was 
cured at that very hour. 

14 On entering the house of Peter, 
Jesus noticed his mother-in-law 

15 was down with fever, so he touched 
her hand; the fever left her and 
she rose and ministered to him. 

16 Now when evening came they 
brought him many demoniacs, and 
he cast out the spirits with a word 

17 and healed all the invalids — that 
the word spoken by the prophet 
Isaiah might be fulfilled, He took 
away our sicknesses and he removed 
our diseases, 

18 When Jesus saw crowds round 
him he gave orders for crossing 

19 to the other side. A scribe came 
up and said to him, " Teacher, 

20 I will follow you anywhere " ; Jesus 
said to him, 

" The foxes have their holes, 
the wild birds have their nests, 

* Reading IfeXctJcoKTot with X*, the Old 
Latin and Syriac versions, the Diatessaron, 
etc. The variant iK^XTje-na-ovrai represents 
a conventional term which would easily 
be substituted for the less common ex- 
pression. 
IQ 



but the Son of man has nowhere 
to lay his head." 
Another of the disciples said to him, 21 
" Lord, let me go and bury my 
father first of all " ; Jesus said to 22 
him, " Follow me, and leave the 
dead to bury their own dead." 
Then he embarked in the boat, 23 
followed by his disciples. Now a 24 
heavy storm came on at sea, so that 
the boat was buried under the 
waves. He was sleeping. So they 25 
went and woke him up, saying, 
" Help, Lord, we are drowning ! " 
He said to them, " Why are you 26 
afraid? How little you trust 
God I " Then he got up and 
checked the winds and the sea, 
and there was a great calm. Men 27 
marvelled at this; they said, 
** What sort of man is this ? the 
very winds and sea obey him ! " 

When he reached the opposite 28 
side, the country of the Gadarenes, 
he was met by two demoniacs who 
ran out of the tombs; they were 
so violent that nobody could 
pass along the road there. They 29 
shrieked, " Son of God, what 
business have you with us ? Have 
you come here to torture us before 
it is time ? " Now, some dis- 30 
tance away, there was a large drove 
of swine grazing, so the daemons 31 
begged him saying, " If you are 
going to cast us out, send us into 
that drove of swine." He said to 32 
them, " Begone ! " So out they 
came and went to the swine, and 
the entire drove rushed down 
the steep slope into the sea and 
perished in the water. The herds- 33 
men fled; they went off to the 
town and reported the whole affair 
of the demoniacs. Then all the 34 
town came out to meet Jesus, and 
when they saw him they begged 
him to move out of their district. 



S. MATTHEW IX 



OHAP. 

9 So he embarked in the boat 
and crossed over to his own town. 

2 There a paralytic was brought to 
him, lying on a pallet; and when 
Jesus saw the faith of the bearers 
he said to the paralytic, " Courage, 
my son I your sins are forgiven." 

8 Some scribes said to themselves, 
" The man is talking blasphemy ! " 

4 Jesus saw what they were thinking 
and said, " Why do you think evil 

6 in your hearts ? Which is the 
easier thing, to say, * Your sins are 
forgiven,' or to say, * Rise and 

6 walk ' ? But to let you see the Son 
of man has power on earth to for- 
give sins " — he then said to the 
paral}i:ic, " Get up, lift your pallet, 

7 and go home." And he got up 

8 and went home. The crowds who 
saw it were awed and glorified 
God for giving such power to 
men. 

9 As Jesus passed along from there, 
he saw a man called Matthew sitting 
at the tax-office; he said to him, 
" Follow me " ; and he rose and 
followed him. 

10 Jesus was at table indoors, and 
many taxgatherers and sinners 
had come to be guests with him 

11 and his disciples. So when the 
Pharisees saw this, they said to 
his disciples, " Why does your 
teacher eat wnth taxgatherers and 

12 sinners ? " When Jesus heard it 
he said, "Those who are strong 
have no need of a doctor, but 

13 those who are ill. Go and learn 
the meaning of this word, / care 
for mercy not for sacrifice. For I 
have not come tp call just men but 
sinners." 

14 Then the disciples of John came 
up to him and said, " Why do 
we and the Pharisees fast a great 
deal, and your disciples do not 
fast?" 



Jesus said to them, 15 

" Can friends at a wedding fast 
so long as the bridegroom 
is beside them? 
A time will come when the bride- 
groom is taken from them, 
and then they will fast. 
No one sews a piece of undressed 16 
cloth on an old coat. 
For the patch breaks away 
from it, 
and the tear is made worse : 
nor do men pour fresh wine into 17 
old wineskins, 
otherwise the wineskins burst, 
and the wine is spilt, the 
wineskins are ruined. 
They put fresh wine into fresh 

wineskins, 
and so both are preserved." 
As he said this, an official came in 18 
and knelt before him, saying, " My 
daughter is just dead; do come 
and lay your hand on her, and she 
will live." So Jesus rose and went 19 
after him accompanied by his dis- 
ciples. Now a woman who had had 20 
a hemorrhage for twelve years 
came up behind him and touched 
the tassel of his robe; what she 21 
said to herself was this, " If I can 
only touch his robe, I will recover." 
Then he turned round and when 22 
he saw her he said, " Courage, my 
daughter, your faith has made you 
well." And the woman was well from 
that hour. Now when Jesus reached 23 
the official's house and saw the flute- 
players and the din the crowd were 
making, he said, " Be off with you ; 24 
the girl is not dead but asleep." 
They laughed at him. But after 25 
the crowd had been put out, he went 
in and took her hand, and the girl 
rose up. The report of this went 26 
all over that country. 

As Jesus passed along from there, 27 
he was followed by two blind men 

11 



S. MATTHEW X 



who shrieked, " Sun of David, have 

28 pity on us I " When he went 
indoors the blind men came up to 
him, and Jesus asked them, " Do 
you beheve I can do this ? " They 

29 said, " Yes, sir." Then he touched 
their eyes and said, " As you 
beheve, so your prayer is granted," 

30 and their eyes were opened. Jesus 
sternly charged them, " See, nobody 

31 is to know of this." But they 
went out and spread the news of 

32 him all over that country. As 
they went out, a dumb man was 
brought to him, who was pos- 

33 sessed by a daemon, and when the 
daemon had been cast out, the 
dumb man spoke. Then the 
crowd marvelled ; they said, " Such 
a thing has never been seen in 
Israel ! " * 

35 Then Jesus made a tour through 
all the towns and villages, teaching 
in their synagogues, preaching the 
gospel of the Reign, and healing 

36 every disease and complaint. As 
he saw the crowds he was moved 
with pity for them; they were 
harassed and dejected, like sheep 

37 without a shepherd. Then he said 
to his disciples, " The harvest is 

38 rich, but the labourers are few ; so 
pray the Lord of the harvest to send 
labourers to gather his harvest." 



CHAP. 

10 And summoning his twelve dis- 
ciples he gave them power over 
unclean spirits, power to cast them 
out and also to heal every disease 
2 and every ailment. These are the 
names of the twelve apostles : first 

♦ Ver. 34 (* But the Pharisees said, 
" He casts out daemons by the prince of 
daemons '") is to be omitted, with D, Syr.^'"-, 
the Old Latin, the Diatessaron, etc. It 
is probably a later insertion from xii. 24 
or Mark iii. 22, to prepare for sdi. 24 f. 
12 



Simon (who is called Peter) and 
Andrew his brother, James the 
son of Zebedaeus and John his 
brother, Philip and Bartholomew, 8 
Thomas and Matthew the tax- 
gatherer, James the son of Alphaeus 
and Lebbaeus whose surname is 
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and 4 
Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. 
These twelve men Jesus despatched 5 
with the following instructions, 
" Do not go among the Gentiles, 
rather make your way to the lost 6 
sheep of the house of Israel. And 7 
preach as you go, tell men, * The 
Reign of heaven is near.' Heal 8 
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse 
lepers, cast out daemons; give 
without paying, as you have got 
without paying; you are not to 9 
take gold or silver or coppers in 
your girdle, nor a wallet for the 10 
road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, 
nor stick — the workman deserves 
his rations. Whatever town or 11 
village you go into, find out a de- 
serving inhabitant and stay with 
him till you leave. 

When you enter the house, salute 12 
it; 

if the household is deserving, 13 
let your peace rest on it ; 

but if the household is unde- 
serving, 
let your peace return to you. 
Whoever will not receive you or 14 
listen to your message, leave that 
house or town and shake off the 
very dust from your feet. I tell 15 
you truly, on the day of judg- 
ment it will be more bearable 
for Sodom and Gomorra than for 
that town. I am sending you 16 
out like sheep among wolves; so 
be wise like serpents and guileless 
like doves. Beware of men, they 17 
will hand you over to sanhedrins 
and scourge you in their syna- 



S. MATTHEW X 



18 gogues, and you will be haled before 
governors and kings for my sake — 
it will be a testimony to them and 

19 to the Gentiles. Now, when they 
bring you up for trial, do not trouble 
yourselves about how to speak or 
what to say; what you are to say 
will come to you at the moment, 

20 for you are not the speakers, it is 
the Spirit of your Father that is 

21 speaking through you. Brother 
will betray brother to death, the 
father will betray his child, children 
will rise against their parents and 

22 put them to death, and you will 
be hated by all men on account of 
my name ; but he will be saved who 
holds out to the very end. 

23 When they persecute you in one 
town, flee to the next; truly I tell 
you, you will not have covered the 
towns of Israel before the Son of 
man arrives. 

24 A scholar is not above his teacher, 

nor a servant above his lord ; 

25 enough for the scholar to fare 

like his teacher, 
and the servant hke his lord. 
If men have called the master 
of the house Beelzebul, 
how much more will they mis- 
call his servants 1 

26 Fear them not : — 

nothing is veiled that will not 
be revealed, 
or hidden that will not be 
known ; 

27 what I tell you in the dark, you 

must utter in the open, 
what you hear in a whisper 
you must proclaim on the 
housetop. 

28 Have no fear of those who kill 

the body but cannot kill 
the soul : 
rather fear Him who can de- 
stroy both soul and body 
in Gehenna. 



Are not two sparrows sold for a 29 
farthing ? 
Yet not one of them will fall 
to the ground unless your 
Father wills it. 
The very hairs on your head are 30 
all numbered; 
fear not, then, you are worth 31 
far more * than spar- 
rows I 
Everyone who will acknowledge 32 
me before men, 
I will aclaiowledge him before 
my Father in heaven ; 
and whoever will disown me 83 
before men, 
I will disown him before my 
Father in heaven. 

Do not imagine I have come to 34 
bring peace on earth ; 
I have not come to bring peace 
but a sword. 
I have come to set a man against 35 
his father, 
a daughter against her mother^ 
a daughter-in-law against her 
mother-in-law ; 
Yes, a man's own household will 36 

be his enemies. 
He who loves father or mother 37 
more than me 
is not worthy of me ; 
he who loves son or daughter 
more than me 
is not worthy of me : 
he who will not take his cross and 38 
follow after me 
is not worthy of me. 
He who has found his life will 39 

lose it, 
and he who loses his life for my 
sake will find it. 

* The iroWwv of the text is either a 
corruption of woW^ or, as Wellhausen 
points out, a mistranslation of the Aramaio 
equivalent for that. ' The distinction is 
qualitative, not quantitative.' 

m 



S. MATTHEW XI 



40 He who receives you receives 

me, 
and he who receives me 
receives Him who sent 
me. 

41 He who receives a prophet be- 

cause he is a prophet, 
will receive a prophet's re- 
ward; 
he who receives a good man be- 
cause he is good, 
will receive a good man's re- 
ward. 

42 And whoever gives one of these 

little ones even a cup of 
cold water because he is a 
disciple, 
I tell you, he will not lose his 
reward." 

CHAP. 

11 After finishing these instruc- 
tions to his twelve disciples, Jesus 
removed from there to teach and 
preach among their towns. 

2 Now when John heard in prison 
what the Christ was doing, he sent 

3 his disciples to ask him, " Are you 
the Coming One? Or are we to 

4 look out for someone else ? " Jesus 
answered them, " Go and report 
to John what you hear and see : 

5 the blind see, the lame walk, lepers 
are cleansed, the deaf hear, and 

6 the dead are raised.* And blessed 
is he who is repelled by nothing 

7 in me ! " As the disciples of John 
went away, Jesus proceeded to 
speak to the crowds about John : 

" What did you go out to the 
desert to see ? 
A reed swayed by the wind ? 

8 Come, what did you go out to 

see? 

• Omitting icat vraxol ehayyeXlCovrai, 
which seems a harmonistio interpolation 
from Luke vii. 22. Matthew never uses 
tvayye\l^fff9au 
14 



A man arrayed in soft wd- 

ment? 
The wearers of soft raiment 
are in royal palaces. 
Come, why did you go out? 9 
To see a prophet ? 
Yes, I tell you, and far more 
than a prophet. 
This is he of whom it is 10 

written, 
Here I send my messenger before 
your face 
to prepare the way for you. 
I tell you truly, no one has 11 
arisen among the sons of women 
who is greater than John the Bap- 
tist, and yet the least in the Realm 
of heaven is greater than he is. 
From the days of John the Baptist 12 
till now the Realm of heaven suffers 
violence, and the violent press into 
it. For all the prophets and 13 
the Law prophesied of it until 
John: — if you care to believe it, 14 
he is the Elijah who is to come. 
He who has an ear, let him listen 15 
to this. 

But to what shall I compare 16 
this generation? It is like chil- 
dren sitting in the marketplace, 
who call to their playmates, 

' We piped to you and you would 17 
not dance, 
we lamented and you would 
not beat your breasts.' 
For John has come neither eat- 18 
ing nor drinking, 
and men say, * He has a 
devil ' ; 
the Son of man has come eating 19 
and drinking, 
and men say, ' Here is a glut- 
ton and a drunkard, 
a friend of taxgatherers and 
sinners ! ' 
Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindi- 
cated by all that she 
does." 



S. MATTHEW XII 



20 Then he proceeded to upbraid 
the towns where his many miracles 
had been performed, because they 

21 would not repent. " Woe to you, 
Khorazin ! Woe to you, Beth- 
saida ! Had the miracles per- 
formed in you been performed in 
Tyre and Si don, they would have 
repented long ago in sackcloth and 

22 ashes. I tell you this, it will be 
more bearable for Tyre and Sidon 
on the day of judgment than for 

23 you. And you, O Capharnahum ! 
Exalted to heaven^ No, you will 
sink to Hades, for if the miracles 
performed in you had been per- 
formed in Sodom, Sodom would 

24 have lasted to this day. I tell you, 
it will be more bearable for Sodom 
on the day of judgment than for 
you." 

25 At that time Jesus spoke and 
said, *' I praise thee, Father, Lord 
of heaven and earth, for hiding 
all this from the wise and learned 
and revealing it to the simple- 

26 minded ; yes, Father, I praise 
thee that such was thy chosen 
purpose. 



27 



28 



29 



80 



All has been handed over to me 
by my Father : 
and no one knows the Son 

except the Father — 
nor does anyone know the 

Father except the Son, 
and he to whom the Son 
chooses to reveal him. 
Come to me, all who are labour- 
ing and burdened, 
and I will refresh you. 
Take my yoke upon you and 
learn from me, 
for I am gentle and humble in 

heart, 
and you will find your souls 

refreshed ; 
my yoke is kindly and my 
burden light/*~~ — 



At that time Jesus walked one 12 
sabbath through the cornfields, 
and as his disciples were hungry 
they started to pull some ears of 
corn and eat them. When the 2 
Pharisees noticed it, they said to 
him, " Look at your disciples, they 
are doing what is not allowed on 
the sabbath." He replied, " Have 3 
you not read what David did when 
he and his men were hungry, how 4 
he went into the house of God, and 
there they ate the loaves of the 
Presence which neither he nor his 
men were allowed to eat, but only 
the priests? Have you not read 5 
in the Law that the priests in the 
temple are not guilty when they 
desecrate the sabbath? I tell 6 
you. One is here who is greater 
than the temple. Besides, if you 7 
had known what this meant, / 
care for mercy not for sacrifice, 
you would not have condemned 
men who are not guilty. For 8 
the Son of man is Lord of the 
sabbath." 

Then he moved on from there and 9 
went into their synagogue. Now 10 
a man with a withered hand was 
there; so in order to get a charge 
against him they asked him, " Is 
it right to heal on the sabbath ? " 
He said to them, " Is there a man 11 
of you with one sheep, who will not 
catch hold of it and lift it out of a 
pit on the sabbath, if it falls in? 
And how much more is a man worth 12 
than a sheep ? Thus it is right to do 
a kindness on the sabbath." Then 13 
he said to the man, " Stretch out 
your hand." He stretched it out, 
and it was quite restored, as sound 
as the other. So the Pharisees with- 14 
drew and plotted against him, to de- 
stroy him ; but as Jesus knew of 15 
it he retired from the spot. Many 
followed him, and he healed them 

lA 



S. MATTHEW XII 



16 all, charging them strictly not to 

17 make him known — ^it was for the 
fulfilment of what had been said by 
the prophet Isaiah, 

18 Here is my servant whom I have 

chosen, 
my Beloved in whom my soul 

delights ; 
I will invest him with my Spirit, 
and he will proclaim religion to 

the Gentiles, 

19 He will not wrangle or shout, 

no one will hear his voice in the 
streets, 

20 He will not break the bruised 

reed, 
he will not put out the smouldering 

flax, 
till he carries religion to victory : 

21 and the Gentiles will hope in his 

name, 

22 Then a blind and dumb demoniac 
was brought to him, and he healed 
him, so that the dumb man spoke 

23 and saw. And all the crowds were 
amazed ; they said, " Can this be 

24 the Son of David ? *' But when 
the Pharisees heard of it they said, 
" This fellow only casts out dae- 
mons by Beelzebul the prince of 

25 daemons." As Jesus knew what 
they were thinking, he said to 
them, 

" Any realm divided against itself 
comes to ruin, 
any city or house divided 
against itself will never 
stand ; 

26 and if Satan casts out Satan, 

he is divided against him- 
self; 
how then can his realm 
stand ? 

27 Besides, if I cast out daemons 

by Beelzebul, 
by whom do your sons cast 

them out ? 
Thus they will be your judges. 



But if I cast out daemons by 28 

the Spirit of God, 
then the Reign of God has 
reached you already. 
Why, how can anyone enter the 29 
strong man's house and plunder his 
goods, unless he first of all binds the 
strong man ? Then he can plunder 
his house. 

He who is not with me is against 30 
me, 
and he who does not gather 
with me scatters. 
I tell you therefore, men will be 31 
forgiven any sin and blas- 
phemy, 
but they will not be forgiven 
for blaspheming the Spirit. 
Whoever says a word against the 32 
Son of man will be forgiven, 
but whoever speaks against 
the holy Spirit will never 
be forgiven, 
neither in this world nor in 
the world to come. 
Either make the tree good and 33 
its fruit good, 
or make the tree rotten and 

its fruit rotten ; 
for the tree is known by its 
fruit. 
You brood of vipers, how can 34 
you speak good when you 
are evil? 
For the mouth utters what the 
heart is full of. 
The good man brings good out of 35 
his good store, 
and the evil man brings evil 
out of his store of evil. 
I tell you, men will have to 36 
account on the day of judgment 
for every light word they utter; 
for by your words you will be 37 

acquitted, 
and by your words you will be 

condemned." 
Then some of the scribes and 38 



S. MATTHEW XIII 



Pharisees said to him, " Teacher, 
we would hke to have some 

39 Sign from you." He replied to 
them, 

" It is an evil and disloyal genera- 
tion that craves a Sign, 
but no Sign will be given to 
it except the Sign of the 
prophet Jonah; 

40 for as Jonah was three days and 

three nights in the belly of 
the whale, 
so the Son of man will be three 
days and three nights in 
the heart of the earth. 

41 The men of Ninive will rise at 

the judgment with this 
generation and condemn 
it; 
for when Jonah preached they 
did repent, 
and here is One greater than 
Jonah. 

42 The queen of the South will rise 

at the judgment with this 
generation and condemn 
it; 
for she came from the ends of 
the earth to listen to the 
wisdom of Solomon, 
and here is One greater than 
Solomon. 

43 When an unclean spirit leaves a 
man, it roams through dry places 
in search of refreshment and finds 

44 none. Then it says, ' I will go back 
to the house I left,' and when it 
comes it finds the house vacant, 

45 clean, and all in order. Then it 
goes off to fetch seven other spirits 
worse than itself; they go in and 
dwell there, and the last state of 
that man is worse than the first. 
This is how it will be with the 
present evil generation." 

46 He was still speaking to the 
crowds when his mother and 
brothers came and stood out" 



side; they wanted to speak to 
him.* But he replied to the man 48 
who told him this, " Who is 
my mother? and who are my 
brothers ? " Stretching out his 49 
hand towards his disciples he said, 
" Here are my mother and my 
brothers ! Whoever does the will 50 
of my Father in heaven, that is my 
brother and sister and mother." 



That same day Jesus went out 13 
of the house and seated himself 
by the seaside; but, as great 2 
crowds gathered to him, he entered 
a boat and sat down, while all the 
crowd stood on the beach. He 8 
spoke at some length to them in 
parables, saying : " A sower went 
out to sow, and as he sowed some 4 
seeds fell on the road and the birds 
came and ate them up. Some other 5 
seeds fell on stony soil where they 
had not much earth, and shot up at 
once because they had no depth 
of soil ; but when the sun rose they 6 
got scorched and withered away 
because they had no root. Some 7 
other seeds fell among thorns, and 
the thorns sprang up and choked 
them. Some other seeds fell on 8 
good soil and bore a crop, some a 
hundredfold, some sixty, and some 
thirtyfold. He who has an ear, 9 
let him listen to this." 

Then the disciples came up and 10 
said to him, " Why do you speak 
in parables?" He replied, " Be- 11 
cause it is granted you to under- 

* Ver. 47, which is rightly omitted by 
55*BL, the Old Latin and Syriac versions, 
etc., has been interpolated by an early 
copyist who wished to prepare for ver. 48 
by using the material of Mark iii. 32. It 
runs thus : ** And a mian said to him, 
*Here are your mother and brothers 
standing outside and wanting to speak to 



S. MATTHEW XIII 



stand the open secrets of the Realm 
of heaven, but it is not granted to 
these people. 

12 For he who has, to him shall more 

be given and richly given, 
but whoever has not, from him 
shall be taken even what he 
has. 

13 This is why I speak to them 
in parables, because for all their 
seeing they do not see and for all 
their hearing they do not hear 

14 or understand. In their case the 
prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled : 

You will hear and hear but never 

understand, 
you will see and see but never 

perceive, 

15 For the heart of this people is 

obtuse, 
their ears are heavy of hearing, 
their eyes they have closed, 
lest they see with their eyes and 

hear with their ears, 
lest they understand with their 

heart and turn again, and 1 

cure them, 

16 But blessed are your eyes for they 

see, 
and your ears, for they hear ! 

17 I tell you truly, many prophets 

and good men have longed 
to see what you see, 

but they have not seen it ; 
and to hear what you hear, 

but they have not heard it. 

18 Now, listen to the parable of the 

19 sower. When anyone hears the 
word of the Realm and does not 
understand it, the evil one comes 
and snatches away what has been 
sown in his heart ; that is the man 

20 who is sown ' on the road.' As for 
him who is sown ' on stony soil,' that 
is the man who hears the word and 
accepts it at once with enthusiasm ; 

21 he has no root in himself, he does 
not last, but when the word brings 

18 



trouble or persecution he is at 
once repelled. As for him who is 22 
sown ' among thorns,' that is the 
man who listens to the word, but 
the worry of the world and the 
delight of being rich choke the word ; 
so it proves unfruitful. As for him 23 
who is sown ' on good soil,' that is 
the man who hears the word and 
understands it; he bears fruit, 
producing now a hundredfold, now 
sixty, and now thirtyfold." 

He put another parable before 24 
them. " The Realm of heaven," 
he said, " is like a man who sowed 
good seed in his field, but while 25 
men slept his enemy came and re- 
sowed weeds among the wheat and 
then went away. When the blade 26 
sprouted and formed the kernel, 
then the weeds appeared as well. 
So the servants of the owner went 27 
to him and said, ' Did you not sow 
good seed in your field, sir ? How 
then does it contain weeds ? ' He 28 
said to them, ' An enemy has done 
this.' The servants said to him, 
' Then would you like us to go and 
gather them ? ' ' No,' he said, * for 29 
you might root up the wheat when 
you were gathering the weeds. Let 30 
them both grow side by side till 
harvest; and at harvest-time I 
will tell the reapers to gather the 
weeds first and tie them in bundles 
to be burnt, but to collect the wheat 
in my granary.' " 

He put another parable before 31 
them. " The Realm of heaven," 
he said, '* is like a grain of mustard- 
seed which a man takes and sows 
in his field. It is less than any seed 32 
on earth, but when it grows up it is 
larger than any plant, it becomes 
a tree, so large that the wild birds 
come and roost in its branches,*' 

He told them another parable. 33 
"The Realm of heaven," he said, 



S. MATTHEW XIV 



" is like dough which a woman took 
and buried in three pecks of flour, 
till all of it was leavened." 
84 Jesus said all this to the crowds 
in parables; he never spoke to 

35 them except in a parable — to ful- 
fil what had been said by the 
prophet, 

/ will open my mouth in parables, 
I will speak out what has been 
hidden since the foundation of 
the world. 

36 Then he left the crowds and went 
indoors. And his disciples came up 
to him saying, " Explain to us the 
parable of the weeds in the field." 

37 So he replied, "He who sows the 

38 good seed is the Son of man ; the field 
is the world ; the good seed means 
the sons of the Realm ; the weeds 

39 are the sons of the evil one ; the 
enemy who sowed them is the devil ; 
the harvest is the end of the world, 

40 and the reapers are angels. Well 
then, just as the weeds are gathered 
and burnt in the fire, so will it be 

41 at the end of the world; the Son 
of man will despatch his angels, 
and they will gather out of his Realm 
all who are hindrances and who 

42 practise iniquity, and throw them 
into the furnace of fire ; there men 
will wail and gnash their teeth. 

43 Then the just will shine like the 
sun in the Realm of their Father. 
He who has an ear, let him listen 
to this. 

44 The Realm of heaven is like 
treasure hidden in a field ; the man 
who finds it hides it and in his 
delight goes and sells all he 
possesses and buys that field. 

45 Again, the Realm of heaven is 
like a trader in search of fine pearls ; 

46 when he finds a single pearl of high 
price, he is off to sell all he possesses 
and buy it. 

47 Again, the Realm of heaven is 



like a net which was thrown into the 
sea and collected fish of every sort. 
When it was full, they dragged it 48 
to the beach and sitting down they 
gathered the good fish into vessels 
but flung away the bad. So will it 49 
be at the end of the world. The 
angels will go out and separate the 
evil from among the just and 50 
fling them into the furnace of fire ; 
there men will wail and gnash their 
teeth. 

Have you understood all this ? " 51 
They said to him, " Yes." So he 52 
said to them, " Well then, every 
scribe who has become a disciple 
of the Realm of heaven is like a 
householder who produces what 
is new and what is old from his 
stores." 

Now when Jesus had finished 53 
these parables he set out from there, 
and went to his native place, where 54 
he taught the people in the syna- 
gogue till they were astounded. 
They said " Where did he get all 
this wisdom and these miraculous 
powers ? Is this not the son of the 55 
joiner? Is not his mother called 
Mary, and his brothers James and 
Joseph and Simon and Judas ? Are 56 
not his sisters settled here among 
us? Then where has he got all 
this ? " So they were repelled by 57 
him. But Jesus said to them, 
" A prophet never goes without 
honour except in his native place 
and in his home." There he could 58 
not do many miracles owing to their 
lack of faith. 

CHAP. 

At that time Herod the tetrarch 14 
heard about the fame of Jesus. 
And he said to his servants, " This 2 
is John the Baptist; he has risen 
from the dead. That is why 
miraculous powers are working 
through him." 

W 



S. MATTHEW XIV 



3 For Herod had arrested John 
and bound him and put him in 
prison on account of Herodias 
the wife of his brother Philip, 

4 since John had told him, " You 

5 have no right to her," He was 
anxious to kill him but he was 
afraid of the people, for they held 

6 John to be a prophet. However, 
on Herod's birthday, the daughter 
of Herodias danced in public to the 

7 delight of Herod; whereupon he 
promised with an oath to give her 

8 whatever she wanted. And she, at 
the instigation of her mother, said, 
" Give me John the Baptist's head 

9 this moment on a dish." The king 
was sorry, but for the sake of his 
oath and his guests he ordered it to 

10 be given her ; he sent and had John 

11 beheaded in the prison, his head 
was brought on a dish and given 
to the girl, and she took it to her 

12 mother. His disciples came and 
removed the corpse and buried him ; 
then they went and reported it to 
Jesus. 

13 When Jesus heard it he withdrew 
by boat to a desert place in private ; 
but the crowds heard of it and fol- 

14 lowed him on foot from the towns. So 
when he disembarked he saw a large 
crowd, and out of pity for them he 

15 healed their sick folk. When even- 
ing fell the disciples came up to him 
and said, " It is a desert place and 
the day is now gone ; send off the 
crowds to buy food for themselves in 

16 the villages." But he said to them, 
" They do not need to go away ; give 

17 them some food yourselves." They 
said, " We have only five loaves 

18 with us and two fish." He said, 

19 " Bring them here to me." Then 
he ordered the crowds to recline on 
the grass, and after taking the five 
loaves and the two fish he looked up 
to heaven, blessed them, and after 

20 



breaking the loaves handed them 
to the disciples, and the disciples 
handed them to the crowds. They 20 
all ate and had enough; besides, 
they picked up the fragments left 
over and filled twelve baskets with 
them. The m'en who ate numbered 21 ' 
about five thousand, apart from 
the women and children. 

Then he made the disciples em- 22 
bark in the boat and cross before 
him to the other side, while he 
dismissed the crowds ; after he had 23 
dismissed the crowds he went up 
the hill by himself to pray. When 
evening came he was there alone, 
but the boat was in the middle of 24 
the sea, buffeted by the waves (for 
the wind was against them). In 25 
the fourth watch of the night he 
went to them, walking on the sea, 
but when they saw him walking on 26 
the sea they were terrified ; "It 
is a ghost," they said and they 
shrieked for fear. Then he spoke 27 
to them at once; "Courage," he 
said, " it is I, have no fear." Peter 28 
answered him, " Lord, if it is really 
you, order me to come to you on 
the water." He said, " Come." 29 
Then Peter got out of the boat and 
walked over the water on his way 
to Jesus ; but when he saw the 30 
wind he was afraid and began to 
sink. " Lord," he shouted, " save 
me." Jesus at once stretched his 31 
hand out and caught him, saying, 
" How little you trust me I Why 
did you doubt ? " When they got 32 
into the boat the wind dropped, 
and the men in the boat worshipped 33 
him, saying, " You are certainhr 
God's Son." 

On crossing over they came to 34 
land at Gennesaret. The men of 35 
that place recognized him and sent 
all over the surrounding country, 
bringing him aU who were ill and 



S. MATTHEW XV 



86 begging him to let them touch the 
mere tassel of his robe — and all who 
touched it got perfectly well. 



1 5 Then Pharisees and scribes from 
Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 

2 " Why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders ? They 
do not wash their hands when they 

8 take their food." He replied, 
" And why do you transgress the 
command of God with your tra- 

4 ditions ? God said. Honour your 
father and mother, and. He who 
curses his father or mother is to 

5 suffer death. But you say, who- 
ever tells his father or mother, 
'This money might have been at 
your service but it is dedicated to 

6 God,'- need not honour his father 
or mother. So you have repealed 
the word of God to suit your own 

7 tradition. You hypocrites ! Isaiah 
made a grand prophecy about you 
when he said, 

8 This people honours me with their 

lips, 
but their heart is far away from 
me : 

9 vain is their worship of me, 

for the doctrines they teach are 
but human precepts.^' 

10 Then he called the crowd and 
said to them, " Listen, understand 
this : 

11 it is not what enters a man's 

mouth that defiles him, 
what defiles a man is what comes 
out of his mouth." 

12 Then his disciples came up and 
said to him, " Do you know that 
the Pharisees have taken offence 

13 at what they hear you say ? " He 
replied, " Any plant that my 
heavenly Father has not planted 

14 will be rooted up. Let them alone ; 
they are blind guides of the blind, 



and if one blind man leads another, 
both of them will fall into a 
pit." Peter answered, " Explain 15 
this parable to us at anyrate." 
He said, " And are you totally 16 
ignorant ? Do you not see how all 17 
that enters the mouth passes into 
the belly and is then thrown out 
into the drain, while what comes 18 
out of the mouth comes from the 
heart — and that is what defiles a 
man. For out of the heart come 19 
evil designs, murder, adultery, 
sexual vice, stealing, false witness, 
and slander. Tiiat is what defiles 20 
a man; a man is not defiled by 
eating with hands unwashed ! " 

Going away from there Jesus 21 
withdrew to the district of Tyre and 
Sidon. And a woman of Canaan 22 
came out of these parts and wailed, 
" Have pity on me. Lord, O Son 
of David I My daughter is cruelly 
possessed by a daemon." But he 23 
made no answer to her. Then his 
disciples came up and pressed him, 
saying, " Send her away, she is wail- 
ing behind us." He replied, " It 24 
was only to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel that I was sent." 
But she came and knelt before him, 25 
saying, " Lord, do help me." He 26 
replied, " It is not fair to take the 
children's bread and throw it to 
the dogs." "No, sir," she said, 27 
" but even the dogs eat the crumbs 
that fall from their master's table." 28 
At that Jesus replied, " O woman, 
you have great faith ; your prayer 
is granted as you wish." And from 
that hour her daughter was cured. 

Then Jesus removed from that 29 
country and went along the sea of 
Galilee; he went up the hillside 
and sat there. And large crowds 
came to him bringing the lame, the 
blind, the dumb, the maimed, and 30 
many others; they laid them at 

21 



S. MATTHEW XVI 



81 his feet, and he healed them. This 
made the crowd wonder, to see 
dumb people speaking,* the lame 
walking, and the blind seeing. 

82 Then Jesus called his disciples and 
said, " I am sorry for the crowd ; 
they have been three days with me 
now, and they have nothing to eat. 
I will not send them away starving, 
in case they faint on the road." 

33 The disciples said to him, " Where 
are we to get loaves enough in a 
desert to satisfy such a crowd? " 

34 Jesus said to them, " How many 
loaves have you got ? " They said, 

35 " Seven, and some little fish." So 
he ordered the crowd to recline on 

36 the ground. He took the seven 
loaves and the fish and after giving 
thanks he broke them and gave them 
to the disciples, and the disciples to 

37 the crowds. So the people all ate 
and were satisfied, and they picked 
up the fragments left over and 
filled seven large baskets with them. 

38 The men who ate numbered four 
thousand, apart from the children 

39 and the women. Then he sent the 
crowd away, got into the boat and 
went to the territory of Magadan. 



16 Now the Pharisees and Saddu- 
cees came up and, in order to tempt 
him, asked him to show them a Sign 
2 from heaven. He replied, 
4 " It is an evil and disloyal genera- 
tion that craves a Sign, 
and no Sign shall be given to it 
except the Sign of Jonah." t 
Then he left them and went away. 

* Leaving out the phrase kvXXovs vyiels 
with ^?, the Latin version, the Old Syriac, 
Origan, etc. Its insertion for harmonistic 
reasons is more hkely than its omission. 

t Three uncials (C D W) of the fifth 
century and several versions, including 
the Latin and the Syriac (Vulgate), to- 
22 



When the disciples reached the 5 

opposite side, they found they had 
forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus 6 
said to them, " See and beware of 
the leaven of the Pharisees and 
Sadducees." They argued among 7 
themselves, " But we have not 
brought any bread ! " When Jesus 8 
noted this he said, " How little trust 
you have in me ! Why all this talk, 
because you have brought no 
bread ? Do you not understand 9 
even yet ? Do you not remember 
the five loaves of the five thousand 
and how many baskets you took 
up ? And the seven loaves of the 10 
four thousand and how many large 
baskets you took up? Wliy do 11 
you not see that I was not speak- 
ing to you about bread ? No, be- 
ware of the leaven of the Pharisees 
and Sadducees." Then they real- 12 
ized that what he told them to 
beware of was not leaven X but 
the leaven of the Pharisees and 
Sadducees. 

Now when Jesus came to the 13 
district of Caesarea Philippi he 
asked his disciples, " Who do people 
say the Son of man is ? " They 14 
told him, " Some say John the 
Baptist, others Elijah, others Jere- 
miah or one of the prophets." He 15 
said to them, " And who do you 

gether with the Diatessaron, insert at the 
beginning of this answer the following : 
" When evening comes, you say, ' It 
will be fine,' for the sky is red; in 
the morning you say, ' It will be 
stormy to-day,' for the sky is red 
and cloudy. You know how to 
distinguish the look of the sky, 
but you cannot read the signs of 
the times." 
The majority of the uncials, with the 
Old Syriac and Origen, rightly omit the 
passage as irrelevant to the original text. 
I Omitting roou 6,prcov after (vfiris with 
strong support from the Old Latin and 
Syriac versions. 



S. MATTHEW XVH 



16 say I am ? " So Simon Peter re- 
plied, " You are the Christ, the Son 

17 of the hving God." Jesus an- 
swered him, " You are a blessed 
man, Simon Bar-jona, for it was 
my Father in heaven, not flesh and 
blood, that revealed this to you. 

18 Now I tell you, Peter is your name * 
and on this rock I will build my 
church; the powers of Hades shall 

19 not succeed against it. I will give 
you the keys of the Realm of 
heaven ; 

whatever you prohibit on earth 
will be prohibited in heaven, 

and whatever you permit on 
earth will be permitted in 
heaven." 

20 Then he forbade the disciples to 
tell anyone he was the Christ. 

21 From that time Jesus began 
to show his disciples that he had 
to leave for Jerusalem and endure 
great suffering at the hands of the 
elders and high priests and scribes, 
and be killed and raised on the 

22 third day. Peter took him and 
began to reprove him for it ; " God 
forbid, Lord," he said, " This must 

23 not be." But he turned and said 
to Peter, " Get behind me, you 
Satan ! Your outlook is not God's 

24 but man's." Then Jesus said to 
his disciples, " If anyone wishes 
to come after me, let him deny 
himself, take up his cross, and so 
follow me ; 

25 for whoever wants to save his 

life will lose it, 
and whoever loses his life for my 
sake will find it. 

26 What profit will it be if a man gains 
the whole world and forfeits his 

* English fails to bring out the play on 
the Greek word for " rock." The French 
version reproduces it : " Et moi je te dis 
aussi que tu es le Pierre, et sur cette 
pierre je batirai mon 6glise." 



own soul ? What will a man offer 
as an equivalent for his soul ? For 27 
the Son of man is coming in the 
glory of his Father with his angels, 
and then he will reward everyone 
for what he has done. I tell you 28 
truly, there are some of those stand- 
ing here who will not taste death till 
they see the Son of man coming 
himself to reign." 

OHAP. 

Six days afterwards Jesus took 17 
Peter, James and his brother John, 
and led them up a high hill by them- 
selves; in their presence he was 2 
transfigured, his face shone hke the 
sun, and his clothes turned white 
as light. There appeared to them 3 
Moses and Elijah, who conversed 
mth Jesus. So Peter addressed 4 
Jesus and said, " Lord, it is a good 
thing we are here; if you like, 
I will put up three tents here, one 
for you, one for Moses, and one for 
Elijah." He was still speaking 5 
when a bright cloud overshadowed 
them, and from the cloud a voice 
said, 
" This is my Son, the Beloved, 

in him is my delight : 

listen to him." 
When the disciples heard the voice 6 
they fell on their faces in terror; 
but Jesus came forward and touched 7 
them, sa5dng, " Rise, have no fear." 
And on raising their eyes they saw 8 
no one except Jesus all alone. As 9 
they went down the hill Jesus 
ordered them, " Tell this vision to 
nobody until the Son of man is raised 
from the dead." The disciples in- 10 
quired of him, " Then why do the 
scribes say that Elijah has to come 
first?" He replied, "Elijah will 11 
come and restore all things. Nay, 12 
I tell you Elijah has already come, 
but they have not recognized him — 

23 



S. MATTHEW XVIII 



they have worked their will on him. 
And the Son of man will suffer at 
their hands in the same way." 

13 Then the disciples realized he was 
speaking to them about John the 
Baptist. 

14 When they reached the crowd, 
a man came up and knelt to him. 

15 " Ah, sir," he said, " have pity on 
my son ; he is an epileptic and he 
suffers cruelly, he often falls into 
the fire and often into the water. 

16 1 brought him to your disciples, but 

17 they could not heal him." Jesus 
answered, " O faithless and per- 
verse generation, how long must I 
still be with you ? How long have 
I to bear with you ? Bring him here 

18 to me." So Jesus checked the 
daemon and it came out of him, 
and from that hour the bOy was 

19 healed. Then the disciples came to 
Jesus in private and said, " Why 

20 could we not cast it out ? " He said 
to them, "Because you have so little 
faith. I tell you truly, if you had 
faith the size of a grain of mustard- 
seed, you could say to this hill, 
' Move from here to there,' and re- 
move it would; nothing would be 
impossible for you." 

22 When his adherents mustered in 
Galilee Jesus told them, " The Son 
of man is to be betrayed into the 

23 hands of men, they will kill him, 
but on the third day he will be 
raised." They were greatly dis- 
tressed at this. 

24 When they reached Capharnahum, 
the collectors of the temple-tax 
came and asked Peter, " Does your 
teacher not pay the temple-tax? " 

25 He said, " Yes." But when he went 
indoors Jesus spoke first; "Tell 
me, Simon," he said, " from whom 
do earthly kings collect customs or 
taxes ? Is it from their own people 

26 or from aliens? " " From aliens," 

24 



he said. Then Jesus said to him, 
" So their own people are exempt. 
However, not to give any offeiice to 27 
them, go to the sea, throw a hook in, 
and take the first fish you bring up. 
Open its mouth and you will find a 
five-shilling piece; take that and 
give it to them for me and for your- 
self." 



At that hour the disciples came 1 8 
and asked Jesus, " Who is greatest 
in the Realm of heaven ? " So he 2 
called a child, set it among them, 
and said, " I tell you truly, unless 3 
you turn and become like children, 
you will never get into the Realm of 
heaven at all. Whoever humbles 4 
himself like this child, he is the 
greatest in the Realm of heaven; 
and whoever receives a little child 5 
like this for my sake, receives me. 
But whoever is a hindrance to one 6 
of these little ones who believe in 
me, better for him to have a great 
mill-stone hung round his neck and 
be sunk in the deep sea. Woe to the 7 
world for hindrances ! Hindrances 
have to come, but woe to the 
man by whom the hindrance does 
come ! 

If your hand or your foot is a 8 
hindrance to you, cut it 
off and throw it away; 
better be maimed or crippled 
and get into Life, 
than keep both feet or hands 
and be thrown into the 
everlasting fire. 
If your eye is a hindrance to you, 9 
tear it out and throw it 
away; 
better get into Life with one eye 
than keep your two eyes 
and be thrown into the fire 
of Gehenna. 
See that you do not despise one 10 



S. MATTHEW XIX 



of these little ones ; for I tell you, 
their angels in heaven always look 
on the face of my Father in 
heaven. 

12 Tell me, if a man has a hundred 
sheep and one of them strays, will 
he not leave the ninety-nine sheep 
on the hills and go in search of the 

13 one that has strayed ? And if he 
happens to find it, I tell you he re- 
joices over it more than over the 
ninety-nine that never went astray. 

14 So it is not the will of your Father in 
heaven that a single one of these 
little ones should be lost. 

15 If your brother sins, go and re- 
prove him, as between you and him 
alone. If he listens to you, then you 

16 have won your brother over; but 
if he will not listen, take one or two 
others along with you, so that every 
case may he decided on the evidence 

17 of two or of three witnesses. If he 
refuses to listen to them, tell the 
church; and if he refuses to listen 
to the church, treat him as a 

18 pagan or a taxgatherer. I tell you 
truly. 

Whatever you prohibit on earth 
will be prohibited in heaven, 

and whatever you permit on 
earth will be permitted in 
heaven. 

19 I tell you another thing : if 
two of you agree on earth about 
anjrthing you pray for, it will be 
done for you by my Father in 

20 heaven. For where two or three 
have gathered in my name, I am 
there among them." 

21 Then Peter came up and said to 
him, " Lord, how often is my brother 
to sin against me and be forgiven ? 

22 Up to seven times ? " Jesus said to 
him, " Seven times ? I say, seventy 

23 times seven ! That is why the 
Realm of heaven may be compared 
to a king who resolved to settle 



accounts with his servants. When 24 
he began the settlement, a debtor 
was brought in who owed him three 
million pounds ; as he was unable 25 
to pay, his master ordered him to 
be sold, along with his wife and 
children and all he had, in pay- 
ment of the sum. So the servant 26 
fell down and prayed him, ' Have 
patience with me, and I will pay you 
it all.' And out of pity for that 27 
servant his master released him and 
discharged his debt. But as that 28 
servant went away, he met one of 
his fellow-servants who owed him 
twenty pounds, and seizing him by 
the throat he said, * Pay your 
debt ! ' So this fellow-servant fell 29 
down and implored him, saying, 

* Have patience with me, and I 
will pay you.' But he refused; 30 
he went and had him thrown into 
prison, till he should pay the debt. 
Now when his fellow-servants saw 31 
what had happened they were 
greatly distressed, and they went 
and explained to their master all 
that had happened. Then his 32 
master summoned him and said, 

* You scoundrel of a servant ! I 
discharged all that debt for you, 
because you implored me. Ought 33 
you not to have had mercy on your 
fellow-servant, as I had on you ? ' 
And in hot anger his master handed 34 
him over to the torturers, till he 
should pay him all the debt. My 35 
Father will do the same to you 
unless you each forgive your brother 
from the heart." 

CHAP. 

When Jesus finished saying this 19 
he moved from Galilee and went to 
the territory of Judaea that lies 
across the Jordan. Large crowds fol- 2 
lowed him and he healed them there. 

Then the Pharisees came up to 8 

26 



S. MATTHEW XIX 



tempt him. They asked, " Is it 
right to divorce one's wife for any 

4 reason ? " He replied, " Have you 
never read that He who created them 
male and female from the beginning 

5 said, 

Hence a man shall leave his father 
and mother, 
and cleave to his wife, 
and the pair shall be one flesh ? 

6 So they are no longer two, but one 
flesh. What God has joined, then, 

7 man must not separate." They said 
to him, " Then why did Moses lay it 
down that we were to divorce by 

8 giving a separation-notice ? " He said 
to them, " Moses permitted you to 
divorce your wives, on account of 
the hardness of your hearts, but it 
was not so from the beginning. 

9 I tell you, whoever divorces his wife 
except for unchastity and marries 
another woman, commits adultery. 

10 The disciples said to him, " If that 
is a man's position with his wife, 

11 there is no good in marrying." He 
said to them, " True, but this truth 
is not practicable for everyone, 
it is only for those who have the 
gift. 

12 There are eunuchs who have been 

eunuchs from their birth, 
there are eunuchs who have been 

made eunuchs by men, 
and there are eunuchs who have 
made themselves eunuchs for 
the sake of the Realm of 
heaven. 
Let anyone practice it for whom 
it is practicable." 

13 Then children were brought to 
him that he might lay his hands 
on them and pray over them. The 

14 disciples checked the people, but 
Jesus said to them, " Let the 
children alone, do not stop them 
from coming to me ; the Realm of 
heaven belongs to such as these." 



Then he laid his hands on them and 15 
went upon his way. 

Up came a man and said to him, 16 
" Teacher, what good deed must 
I do to inherit Hfe eternal ? " He 17 
said to him, " Why do you ask me 
about what is good ? One alone 
is good. But if you want to get 
into Life, keep the commands." 
" Which ? " he said. Jesus an- 18 
swered, " The commands, you shall 
not kill, you shall not commit adul- 
tery, you shall not steal, you shall 
not bear false witness, honour your 19 
father and mother, and you must 
love your neighbour as your self, ''^ 
The young man said, " I have 20 
observed all these. What more is 
wanting ? " Jesus said to him, " If 21 
you want to be perfect, go and 
sell your property, give the 
money to the poor and you will 
have treasure in heaven ; then come 
and follow me." When the young 22 
man heard that, he went sadly 
away, for he had great possessions. 
And Jesus said to his disciples, " I 23 
tell you truly, it will be difficult 
for a rich man to get into the 
Realm of heaven. I tell you again, 24 
it is easier for a camel to get 
through a needle's eye than for 
a rich man to get into the Realm 
of heaven." When the disciples 25 
heard this they were utterly 
astounded ; they said, " Who then 
can possibly be saved ? " Jesus 26 
looked at them and said, " This is 
impossible for men, but anything 
is possible for God." Then Peter 27 
repUed, " Well, we have left our all 
and followed you. Now what are 
we to get ? " Jesus said to them, 28 
" I tell you truly, in the new 
world, when the Son of man shall 
sit on the throne of his glory, you 
who have followed me shall also sit 
on twelve thrones to govern the 



S. MATTHEW XX 



29 twelve tribes of Israel. Everyone 
who has left brothers or sisters or 
father or mother or children or 
lands or houses for my name's 
sake will get a hundred times as 
much and inherit life eternal. 

30 Many who are first shall be last, 
and many who are last shall be first. 

20 For the Realm of heaven is like 
a householder who went out early 
in the morning to hire labourers for 

2 his vineyard ; and after agreeing 
with the labourers to pay them a 
shilling a day he sent them into 

3 his vineyard. Then, on going out 
at nine o'clock he noticed some 
other labourers standing in the 

4 marketplace doing nothing ; to them 
he said, ' You go into the vine- 
yard too, and I will give you 
whatever wage is fair.' So they 

5 went in. Going out again at twelve 
o'clock and at three o'clock, he did 

6 the same thing. And when he 
went out at five o'clock he came 
upon some others who were stand- 
ing ; he said to them, ' Why have 
you stood doing nothing all the 

7 day ? ' ' Because nobody hired 
us,* they said. He told them, 

* You go into the vineyard too.' 

8 Now when evening came the master 
of the vineyard said to his bailiff, 

* Summon the labourers and pay 
them their wages, beginning with 
the last and going on to the first.'* 

9 When those who had been hired 
about five o'clock came, they got 

10 a shilling each. So when the first 
labourers came up, they supposed 
they would get more ; but they too 

11 got each their shilling. And on 
getting it they grumbled at the 

12 householder. ' These last,' they 
said, ' have only worked a single 
hour, and yet you have ranked 

* Note the connexion between this 
parable (ver. 16) and xix. 30. 



them equal to us who have borne 
the brunt of the day's work and 
the heat ! ' Then he replied to one 13 
of them, ' My man, I am not 
wronging you. Did you not agree 
with me for a shilling ? Take what 14 
belongs to you and be off. I choose 
to give this last man the same as 
you. Can I not do as I please 15 
with what belongs to me? Have 
you a grudge because I am 
generous ? ' So shall the last be 16 
first and the first last." 

Now as Jesus was about to go 17 
up to Jerusalem he took the twelve 
aside by themselves and said to 
them as they were on the road, 
*' We are going up to Jerusalem, 18 
and the Son of man will be betrayed 
to the high priests and scribes ; they 
will sentence him to death and 19 
hand him over to the Gentiles to be 
mocked and scourged and crucified ; 
then on the third day he will be 
raised." 

Then the mother of the sons of 20 
Zebedaeus came up to him with 
her sons, praying him for a favour. 
He said to her, " What do you 21 
want ? " She said, " Give orders 
that my two sons are to sit at 
your right hand and at your left 
in your Realm." Jesus replied, 22 
" You do not know what you are 
asking. Can you drink the cup I 
am going to drink? " They said 
to him, " We can." " You shall 23 
drink my cup," said Jesus, " but it 
is not for me to grant seats at my 
right hand and at my left; these 
belong to the men for w^hom they 
have been destined by my 
Father." When the ten heard of 24 
this, they were angry at the two 
brothers, but Jesus called them 25 
and said, 

" You know the rulers of the 
Gentiles lord it over them. 

27 



S. MATTHEW XXI 



and their great men overbear 
them : 

26 not so with you. 

Whoever wants to be great among 
you must be your servant, 

27 and whoever wants to be first 

among you must be your 
slave ; 

28 just as the Son of man has not 

come to be served but to 
serve, 
and to give his Hfe as a ransom 
for many." 

29 As they were leaving Jericho 

30 a crowd followed him, and when 
two blind men who were sitting 
beside the road heard Jesus was 
passing, they shouted, " O Lord, 
Son of David, have pity on us ! " 

81 The crowd checked them and told 
them to be quiet, but they shouted 
all the louder, " O Lord, Son of 

82 David, have pity on us ! " So 
Jesus stopped and called them. 
He said, " What do you want me 

88 to do for you?" "Lord," they 
said, " we want our eyes opened." 

34 Then Jesus in pity touched their 
eyes, and they regained their sight 
at once and followed him, 

OHAP. ^ 

2 1 When they came near Jerusalem 
and had reached Bethphage at 
the Hill of Olives, then Jesus des- 

2 patched two disciples, saying to 
them, " Go to the village in front 
of you and you will at once find 
an ass tethered with a colt alongside 
of her; untether them and bring 

8 them to me. If anyone says any- 
thing to you, you will say that the 
Lord needs them; then he will at 

4 once let them go." This took place 
for the fulfilment of what had been 
spoken by the prophet, 

5 Tell the daughter of Sion, 

' Here is your king coming to you, 
2» 



8 



9 



He is gentle and mounted on an ass. 
And on a colt the foal of a beast 
of burden.^ 

So the disciples went and did as 
Jesus told them ; they brought the 
ass and the colt and put their 
clothes on them. Jesus seated 
himself on them, and the greater 
part of the crowd spread their 
clothes on the road, while others 
cut branches from the trees and 
strewed them on the road. And 
the crowds who went in front of 
him and who followed behind 
shouted, 
" Has anna to the Son of David ! 

Blessed be he who comes in the 
Lord's name / 

Hosanna in high heaven I " 

When he entered Jerusalem the 10 
whole city was in excitement over 
him. " Who is this ? " they said, 
and the crowds replied, " This is 11 
the prophet Jesus from Nazaret 
in Galilee ! " Then Jesus went 12 
into the temple of God and drove 
out all who were buying and sell- 
ing inside the temple; he upset 
the tables of the money-changers 
and the stalls of those who sold 
doves, and told them, " It is written, 13 
My house shall be called a house of 
prayer, but you make it a den of 
robbers.''^ 

Blind and lame people came up 14 
to him in the temple and he healed 
them. But when the high priests 15 
and scribes saw his wonderful deeds 
and saw the children who shouted 
in the temple, " Hosanna to the 
Son of David ! " they were indig- 
nant; they said to him, "Do you 16 
hear what they are saying? " 
" Yes," said Jesus, " have you 
never read Thou hast brought praise 
to perfection from the mouth of babes 
and sucklings?" Then he left 17 
them and went outside the city 



S. MATTHEW XXI 



to Bethany, where he spent the 
night. 

18 In the morning as he came back 

19 to the city he felt hungry, and 
noticing a fig tree by the roadside 
he went up to it, but found nothing 
on it except leaves. He said to it, 
" May no fruit ever come from you 
after this ! " And instantly the 

20 fig tree withered up. When the 
disciples saw this they marvelled. 
" How did the fig tree wither up in 

21 an instant ? " they said. Jesus an- 
swered, " I tell you truly, if you 
have faith, if you have no doubt, 
you will not only do what has been 
done to the fig tree but even if you 
say to this hill * Take and throw 
yourself into the sea,' it will be 

22 done. All that ever you ask in 
prayer you shall have, if you 
believe." 

23 When he entered the temple, 
the high priests and elders of 
the people came up to him as 
he was teaching, and said, " What 
authority have you for acting in 
this way? Who gave you this 

24 authority ? " Jesus replied, " Well, 
I will ask you a question, and if 
you answer me, then I will tell 
you what authority I have for 

26 acting as I do. Where did the 
baptism of John come from? 
From heaven or from men ? " 
Now they argued to themselves, 
" If we say, ' From heaven,' he 
will say to us, ' Then why did 

26 you not believe him ? ' And if 
we say, ' From men,' we are 
afraid of the crowd, for they all 
hold that John was a prophet." 

27 So they answered Jesus, " We do 
not know." He said to them, 
" No more will I tell you what 
authority I have for acting as I do. 

28 Tell me what you think. A man 
had two sons. He went to the 



first and said, ' Son, go and work 
in the vineyard to-day ' ; he replied, 29 
' I vnll go, sir,' but he did not go. 
The man went to the second and 30 
said the same to him; he replied, 
' I will not,' but afterwards he 
changed his mind and did go. 
Which of the two did the will of 31 
the father?" They said, "The 
last." Jesus said to them, " I 
tell you truly, the taxgatherers 
and harlots are going into the 
Realm of God before you. For 32 
John showed you the way to be 
good and you would not believe 
him; the taxgatherers and harlots 
believed him, and even though you 
saw that, you would not change 
your mind afterwards and believe 
him. 

Listen to another parable. There 33 
was a householder who planted a 
vineyard, put a fence round it, 
dug a wine-vat inside it, and built 
a watchtower : then he leased it to 
vinedressers and went abroad. 
When the fruit-season was near, 34 
he sent his servants to the vine- 
dressers to collect his fruit ; but 35 
the vinedressers took his servants 
and flogged one, killed another, 
and stoned a third. Once more he 36 
sent some other servants, more 
than he had sent at first, and they 
did the same to them. Afterwards 37 
he sent them his son ; ' They will 
respect my son,' he said. But 38 
when the vinedressers saw his son 
they said to themselves, ' Here is 
the heir; come on, let us kill him 
and seize his inheritance ! ' So 39 
they took and threw him outside 
the vineyard and killed him. 
Now, when the owner of the 40 
vineyard comes, what will he do 
to these vinedressers ? " They 41 
replied, " He will utterly destroy 
the wretches and lease the vine- 

29 



S. MATTHEW XXII 



yard to other vinedressers who will 
give him the fruits in their season," 

42 Jesus said to them, " Have you 
never read in the scriptures, 

The stone that the builders rejected 
is the chief stone now of the 
corner : 

this is the doing of the Lord, 
and a wonder to our eyes ? 

43 I tell you therefore that the Realm 
of God will be taken from you and 
given to a nation that bears the 
fruits of the Realm. 

44 Everyone who falls on this stone 

will be shattered, 
and whoever it falls upon will 
be crushed." 

45 When the high priests and Pharisees 
heard these parables they knew 

46 he was speaking about them ; they 
tried to get hold of him, but they 
were afraid of the crowds, as the 
crowds held him to be a prophet. 

CHAP. 

22 Then Jesus again addressed them 

2 in parables. " The Realm of 
heaven," he said, " may be com- 
pared to a king who gave a mar- 
riage-banquet in honour of his son. 

3 He sent his servants to summon 
the invited guests to the feast, 

4 but they would not come. Once 
more he sent some other servants, 
saying, ' Tell the invited guests, 
here is my supper all prepared, my 
oxen and fat cattle are killed, 
everything is ready; come to the 

5 marriage-banquet.' But they paid 
no attention and went off, one to 
his estate, another to his business, 

6 while the rest seized his servants 
and ill-treated them and killed 

7 them. The king was enraged ; he 
sent his troops and destroyed 
those murderers and burned up 

8 their city. Then he said to his 
servants, ' The marriage-banquet 

30 



is all ready, but the invited guests 
did not deserve it. So go to the 9 
bye ways and invite anyone you 
meet to the marriage-banquet.' 
And those servants went out on the 10 
roads and gathered all they met, 
bad and good alike. Thus the mar- 
riage-banquet was supplied with 
guests. Now when the king came 11 
in to view his guests, he saw a man 
there who was not dressed in a 
wedding-robe. So he said to him, 12 
' My man, how did you get in here 
without a wedding-robe ? ' The 
man was speechless. Then said 13 
the king to his servants, ' Take him 
hand and foot, and throw him 
outside, out into the darkness ; 
there men will wail and gnash their 
teeth. For many are invited but 14 
few are chosen." 

Then the Pharisees went and 15 
plotted to trap him in talk. They 16 
sent him their disciples with the 
Herodians, who said, " Teacher, 
we know you are sincere and that 
you teach the Way of God honestly 
and fearlessly; you do not court 
human favour. Tell us, then, 17 
what you think about this. Is it 
right to pay taxes to Caesar or 
not ? " But Jesus detected their 18 
malice. He said, " Why do you 
tempt me, you hypocrites ? Show 19 
me the coin for taxes." So they 
brought him a shilling. Then Jesus 20 
said to them, " Whose likeness, 
whose inscription is this ? " 
"Caesar's," they said. Then he 21 
told them, " Give Caesar what 
belongs to Caesar, give God 
what belongs to God." When 22 
they heard that they marvelled; 
then they left him and went 
away. 

That same day some Sadducees 23 
came up to him, men who hold 
there is no resurrection. They 



S. MATTHEW XXIII 



24 put this question to him, " Teacher, 
Moses said that if anyone dies with- 
out children, his brother is to espouse 
his wife and raise offspring for his 

25 brother. Now there were seven 
brothers in our number. The first 
married and died; as he had no 
children he left his wife to his 

26 brother. The same happened with 
the second and the third, down to 

27 the seventh. After them all, the 

28 woman died. Now at the resurrec- 
tion whose wife will she be ? They 

29 all had her." Jesus answered 
them, " You go wrong because 
you understand neither the scrip- 

30 tures nor the power of God. At 
the resurrection people neither 
marry nor are married, they are 
like the angels of God in heaven. 

31 And as for the resurrection of the 
dead, have you not read what was 

32 said to you by God, I am the God 
of Abraham and the God of Isaac and 
the God of Jacob ? He is not a God 

33 of dead people but of living." And 
when the crowds heard it, they 
were astounded at his teaching. 

34 When the Pharisees heard he 
had silenced the Sadducees, they 

35 mustered their forces, and one of 
them, a lawyer, put a question in 

36 order to tempt him. " Teacher," 
he said, " what is the greatest 

37 command in the Law ? " He replied, 
" You must love the Lord your God 
with your whole heart, with your 
whole soul, and with your whole 

38 mind. This is the greatest and 

39 chief command. There is a second 
like it : you must love your neigh- 

40 hour as yourself. The whole Law 
and the prophets hang upon these 
two commands." 

41 As the Pharisees had mustered, 
Jesus put a question to them. 

42 " Tell me," he said, " what you 
think about the Christ. Whose 



son is he ? " They said to him, 
" David's." He said to them, 
" How is it then that David in the 43 
Spirit calls him Lord ? 

The Lord said to my Lord, * Sit at 44 

my right hand, 
till I put your enemies under 

your feet.^ 
If David calls him Lord, how can 45 
he be his son ? " No one could 46 
make any answer to him, and 
from that day no one ventured 
to put another question to him. 

OHAP. 

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds 23 
and to his disciples. " The scribes 2 
and Pharisees sit on the seat of 
Moses; so do whatever they tell 3 
3^ou, obey them, but do not do as 
they do. They talk but they do 
not act. They make up heavy 4 
loads and lay them on men's 
shoulders but they will not stir a 
finger to remove them. Besides, 5 
all they do is done to catch the 
notice of men; they make their 
phylacteries broad, they wear large 
tassels, they are fond of the best 6 
places at banquets and the front 
seats in the synagogues ; they like 
to be saluted in the marketplaces 7 
and to be called ' rabbi ' by men. 
But you are not to be called 8 
' rabbi,' 
for One is your teacher, and 
you are all brothers; 
you are not to call anyone 9 
* father ' on earth, 
for One is your heavenly 
Father ; 
nor must you be called ' leaders,' 10 
for One is your leader, even 
the Christ. 
He who is greatest among you 11 

must be your servant. 
Whoever uplifts himself will be 12 
humbled, 



S. MATTHEW XXIII 



and whoever humbles himself 

will be uplifted. 
13 Woe to you, you impious scribes 

and Pharisees ! 
you shut the Realm of heaven 

in men's faces; 
you neither enter yourselves, 
nor will you let those enter 

who are on the point of 

entering. 

15 Woe to you, you impious scribes 

and Pharisees I 

you traverse sea and land to 
make a single proselyte, 

and when you succeed you 
make him a son of Ge- 
henna twice as bad as 
yourselves. 

16 Woe to you, blind guides that 

you are ! 

you say, ' Swear by the sanctu- 
ary, and it means nothing ; 

but swear by the gold of the 
sanctuary, and the oath 
is binding.' 

17 You are senseless and blind ! 

for which is the greater, 
the gold or the sanctuary that 
makes the gold sacred ? 

18 You say again, ' Swear by the 

altar, and it means 
nothing ; 
but swear by the gift upon it, 
and the oath is binding.' 

19 You are blind ! for which is 

the greater, 
the gift or the altar that makes 
the gift sacred ? 

20 He who swears by the altar 

swears by it and by all that 
lies on it; 

21 he who swears by the sanctuary 

swears by it and by Ulm 
who inhabits it ; 

22 he who swears by heaven 

swears by the throne of God 
and by Him who sits upon 
it. 



Woe to you, you impious scribes 23 
and Pharisees ! 
you tithe mint and dill and 

cummin, 
and omit the weightier matters 

of the law, 
justice and mercy and faith- 
fulness ; 
these latter you ought to have 
practised — without omit- 
ting the former. 
Blind guides that you are, 24 
filtering away the gnat and 
swallowing the camel ! 
Woe to you, you irreligious 25 
scribes and Pharisees ! 
you clean the outside of the 
cup and the plate, 
but inside they are filled 
with your rapacity and 
self-indulgence. 
Blind Pharisee I first clean the 26 
inside of the cup, 
so that the outside may be 
clean as well. 
Woe to you, you irreligious scribes 27 
and Pharisees ! 
you are like tombs white- 
washed ; 
they look comely on the out- 
side, 
but inside they are full of 
dead men's bones and all 
manner of impurity. 
So to men you seem just, 28 

but inside you are full of 
hypocrisy and iniquity. 
Woe to you, you irreligious 29 
scribes and Pharisees I You build 
tombs for the prophets and 
decorate the tombs of the just, 
and you say ' If we had been living 30 
in the days of our fathers, we 
would not have joined them in 
shedding the blood of the prophets.' 
So you are witnesses against your- 31 
selves, that you are sons of those 
who lalled the prophets ! And you 32 



I 



S. MATTHEW XXIV 



will fill up ♦ the measure that 

33 your fathers filled. You serpents ! 
you brood of vipers ! how can you 
escape being sentenced to Gehenna ? 

34 This is why I will send you prophets, 
wise men, and scribes, some of 
whom you will kill and crucify, 
some of whom you will flog in your 
synagogues and persecute from 

35 town to town ; it is that on you 
may fall the punishment for all the 
just blood shed on earth from 
the blood of Abel the just down to 
the blood of Zechariah the son of 
Barachiah, whom you murdered 
between the sanctuary and the 

36 altar. I tell you truly, it will all 
come upon this generation. 

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! slaying 
the prophets and stoning those 
who have been sent to you I How 
often I would fain have gathered 
your children as a fowl gathers her 
brood under her wings ! But you 

38 would not have it I See, your 

39 House is left to you, desolate. For I 
tell you, you will never see me again 
till you say, Blessed he he who comes 
in the Lord's name»^ 

CHAP. 

*24 So Jesus left the temple and went 
on his way. His disciples came 
forward to point out to him the 

2 temple-buildings, but he replied 
to them, "You see all this? I 
tell you truly, not a stone here will 
be left upon another, without being 
torn down." 

3 So as he sat on the Hill of 
Olives the disciples came up to him 
in private and said, " Tell us, when 
will this happen? What will be 
the sign of your arrival and of 

4 the end of the world ? " Jesus re- 
plied, " Take care that no one mis- 

5 leads you ; for many will come in 

* Reading nrXitp^ffert vith B, Sjrr.sin. 



my name, saying * I am the Christ,' 
and they will mislead many. You 6 
will hear of wars and rumours of 
wars; see and do not be alarmed. 
These have to come, but it is not the 
end yet. For nation will rise against 7 
nation, and realm against realm ; 
there will be famines and earth- 
quakes here and there. All that 8 
is but the beginning of the trouble. 
Then men will hand you over to 9 
suffer affliction, and they will kill 
you ; you will he hated by all the 
Gentiles on account of my name. 
And many will he rebelled then, 10 
they will betray one another and 
hate one another. Many false 11 
prophets will rise and mislead 
many. And in most of you love 12 
will grow cold by the increase of 
iniquity; but he will be saved 13 
who holds out to the very end. 
This gospel of the Reign will be 14 
preached all over the wide world 
as a testimony to all the Gentiles, 
and then the end will come. 

So when you see the appalling 15 
Horror spoken of by the prophet 
Daniel, standing erect in the holy 
place (let the reader note this), then 16 
let those who are in Judaea fly to 
the hills; a man on the housetop 17 
must not go down to fetch what is in- 
side his house, and a man in the field 18 
must not turn back to get his coat. 
Woe to women with child and to 19 
women who give suck in those days ! 
Pray that you may not have to fly 20 
in winter or on the sabbath, for 21 
there will be sore misery then, such 
as has never heen from the heginning 
of the world till now — no and never 
shall be. Had not those days been 22 
cut short, not a soul would be saved 
alive; however, for the sake of 
the elect, those days will be cut 
short. 

If anyone tells you at that time, 23 

33 



S. MATTHEW XXIV 



• Here is the Christ ! ' or, * there 
he is ! * do not believe it ; for 

24 false Christs and false prophets will 
rise and bring forward great signs 
and wonders, so as to mislead the 
very elect, — if that were possible. 

25 (I am telling you this beforehand.) 

26 If they tell you, * Here he is 

in the desert,' 
do not go out; 
* here he is in the chamber,' 
do not believe it. 

27 For like lightning that shoots 

from east to west, 
so will be the arrival of the 
Son of man. 

28 Wherever the body lies, 
there will the vultures gather. 

29 Immediately after the misery of 

those days 
the sun will be darkened, 

and the moon will not yield her 
light, 
the stars will drop from heaven 
and the orbs of the heavens will 
be shaken, 

30 Then the Sign of the Son of man 
will appear in heaven; then all 
tribes on earth will wail, they will 
see the Son of man coming on the 
clouds of heaven with great power 

31 and glory. He will despatch his 
angels with a loud trumpet-call to 
muster his elect from the four winds, 
from the verge of heaven to the verge 
of earth, 

32 Let the fig tree teach you a 
parable. As soon as its branches 
turn soft and put out leaves, you 

33 know summer is at hand; so, 
whenever you see all this happen, 
you may be sure He is at hand, at 
the very door. 

84 I tell you truly, the present 
generation will not pass away till 

85 all this happens. Heaven and 
earth will pass away, but my words 
will never pass away. 

34 



Now no one knows anything 36 
about that day or hour, not even 
the angels in heaven, but only the 
Father. As were the days of Noah, 37 
so will the arrival of the Son of man 
be. For as in the days before the 38 
deluge people ate and drank, mar- 
ried and were married, till the day 
Noah entered the ark ; and as they 39 
knew nothing till the deluge came 
and swept them all away; so 
will the arrival of the Son of man 
be. 

Then there will be two men in 40 

the field, 
one will be taken and one will 

be left ; 
two women will be grinding at 41 

the millstone, 
one will be taken and one will 

be left. 
Keep on the watch then, for you 42 
never know what day your Lord 
will come. But be sure of this, 43 
that if the householder had known 
at what watch in the night the thief 
was coming, he would have been 
on the watch, he would not have 
allowed his house to be broken into. 
So be ready yourselves, for the Son 44 
of man is coming at an hour you do 
not expect. 

Now where is the trusty and 45 
thoughtful servant, whom his lord 
and master has set over his house- 
hold to assign them their supplies 
at the proper time ? Blessed is that 46 
servant if his lord and master finds 
him so doing when he arrives ! I tell 47 
you truly, he will set him over all his 
property. But if the* bad servant 48 
says to himself, 'My lord and master 
is long of coming,' and if he starts 49 
to beat his fellow-servants and to 
eat and drink with drunkards, that 50 
servant's lord and master will arrive 

* Omitting {iKetvos], a harmonistio 
gloss from Luke xii. 46. 



S. MATTHEW XXV 



on a day when he does not expect 
him and at an hour which he does 
51 not know ; he will cut him in two 
and assign him the fate of the hypo- 
crites. There men will wail and 
gnash their teeth. 

CHAP. 

25 Then shall the Realm of heaven 
be compared to ten maidens who 
took their lamps and went out to 
meet the bridegroom and the bride.* 

2 Five of them were stupid and five 

3 were sensible. For although the 
stupid took their lamps, they took 

4 no oil with them, whereas the 
sensible took oil in their vessels as 

5 well as their lamps. As the bride- 
groom was long of coming, they all 
grew drowsy and went to sleep. 

6 But at midnight the cry arose, ' Here 
is the bridegroom! Come out to 

7 meet him ! ' Then all the maidens 
rose and trimmed their lamps. 

8 The stupid said to the sensible, 
' Give us some of your oil, for our 

9 lamps are going out.' But the 
sensible replied, * No, there may 
not be enough for us and for you. 
Better go to the dealers and buy 

10 for yourselves.' Now while they 
were away buying oil, the bride- 
groom arrived ; those maidens who 
were ready accompanied him to the 
marriage-banquet, and the door 

11 was shut. Afterwards the rest of the 
maidens came and said, * Oh sir, oh 

12 sir, open the door for us ! ' but he 
replied, ' I tell you frankly, I do not 

13 know you.' Keep on the watch 
then, for you know neither the day 
nor the hour. 

* The words koI rris v^/iKpiis are added 
by D X*, the Latin and Syriae versions, 
etc. Their omission may have been due 
to the feeling of the later church that Jesus 
as the Bridegroom ought alone to be 
mentioned. 



For the case is that of a man 14 
going abroad, who summoned his 
servants and handed over his 
property to them; to one he 15 
gave twelve hundred pounds, 
to another five hundred, and to 
another two hundred and fifty; 
each got according to his capacity. 
Then the man went abroad. The 16 
servant who had got the twelve 
hundred pounds at once went and 
traded with them, making another 
twelve hundred. Similarly the ser- 17 
vant who had got the five hundred 
pounds made another five hundred. 
But the servant who had got the 18 
two hundred and fifty pounds went 
off and dug a hole in the ground 
and hid his master's money. Now 19 
a long time afterwards the master 
of those servants came back and 
settled accounts with them. Then 20 
the servant who had got the twelve 
hundred pounds came forward, 
bringing twelve hundred more; he 
said, ' You handed me twelve 
hundred pounds, sir; here I have 
gained another twelve hundred.' 
His master said to him, ' Capital, 21 
you excellent and trusty servant ! 
You have been trusty in charge of 
a small sum, I will put you in charge 
of a large sum. Come and share 
your master's feast.' Then the 22 
servant with the five hundred 
pounds came forward. He said, 
' You handed me five hundred 
pounds, sir; here I have gained 
another five hundred.' His master 23 
said to him, * Capital, you excellent 
and trusty servant ! You have been 
trusty in charge of a small sum, 
I will put you in charge of a large 
sum. Come and share your mas- 
ter's feast.' Then the servant who 24 
had got the two hundred and fifty 
pounds came forward. He said, 
' I knew you were a hard man, sir, 



S. MATTHEW XXV 



reaping where you never sowed 
and gathering where you never 

25 winnowed. So I was afraid; I 
went and hid your two hundred 
and fifty pounds in the earth. 

26 There's your money ! ' His master 
said to him in reply, 'You rascal, 
you idle servant 1 You knew, did 
you, that I reap where I have 
never sowed and gather where 

27 I have never winnowed ! Well 
then, you should have handed 
my money to the bankers and I 
would have got my capital with 

28 interest when I came back. Take 
therefore the two hundred and fifty 
pounds away from him, give it to 
the servant who had the twelve 
hundred. 

29 For to everyone who has shall 

more be given and richly 
given; 
but from him who has nothing, 
even what he has shall be 
taken. 

30 Throw the good-for-nothing servant 
into the darkness outside; there 
men will wail and gnash their 
teeth. 

31 When the Son of man comes in 
his glory and all the angels with him, 
then he will sit on the throne of his 

32 glory, and all nations will be 
gathered in front of him; he will 
separate them one from another, 
as a shepherd separates the sheep 

33 from the goats, setting the sheep 
on his right hand and the goats on 

34 his left. Then shall the King say 
to those on his right, ' Come, you 
whom my Father has blessed, come 
into your inheritance in the realm 
prepared for you from the founda- 
tion of the world. 

35 For I was hungry and you fed 

me, 
I was thirsty and you gave me 
drink, 
3S 



I was a stranger and you enter* 

tained me, 
I was unclothed and you 30 
clothed me, 
I was ill and you looked after 
me, 
I was in prison and you visited 
me.* 
Then the just will answer, 37 

* Lord, when did we see you 
hungry and fed you? or 
thirsty and gave you drink ? 
when did we see you a stranger 38 
and entertain you? or un- 
clothed and clothed you ? 
when did we see you ill or in 39 
prison and visit you ? ' 
The King will answer them, ' I tell 40 
you truly, in so far as you did it to 
one of these brothers of mine, even 
to the least of them, you did it to 
me.' Then he will say to those on 41 
the left, ' Begone from me, you 
accursed ones, to the eternal fire 
which has been prepared for the 
devil and his angels ! 

For I was hungry but you never 42 
fed me, 
I was thirsty but you never 
gave me drink, 
I was a stranger but you never 43 
entertained me, 
I was unclothed but you never 
clothed me, 
I was ill and in prison but you 
never looked after me.' 
Then they will answer too, ' Lord, 44 
when did we ever see you hungry 
or thirsty or a stranger or unclothed 
or ill or in prison, and did not 
minister to you ? ' Then he will 45 
answer them, ' I tell you truly, in 
so far as you did not do it to one of 
these, even the least of them, you 
did not do it to me.' 

So they will depart to eternal 46 
punishment, 
and the just to eternal life." 



S. MATTHEW XXVI 



26 When Jesus finished saying all 
2 this he said to his disciples, " You 
know the passover is to be held 
two days after this, and the Son 
of man" will be delivered up to be 
crucified." 
8 Then the high priests and the 
elders of the people met in the 
palace of the high priest who was 

4 called Caiaphas and took counsel 
together to get hold of Jesus 
by craft and have him put to 

5 death. " Only," they said, " it 
must not be during the festi- 
val, in case of a riot among the 
people." 

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany 
in the house of Simon the leper, a 

7 woman came up to him with an 
alabaster flask of expensive perfume 
which she poured over his head as 

8 he lay at table. When the disciples 
saw this they were angry. " What 
is the use of this waste ? " they 

9 said ; " the perfume might have 
been sold for a good sum, and the 

10 poor might have got that." But 
Jesus was aware of what they said, 
and he replied, " Why are you 
annoying the woman? It is a 
beautiful thing she has done to me. 

11 The poor you always have beside 
you, but you will not always have 

12 me. In pouring this perfume on 
my body she has acted in view of 

13 my burial. I tell you truly, wher- 
ever this gospel is preached through 
all the world, men will speak of 
what she has done in memory of 
her." 

14 Then one of the twelve called 
Judas Iscariot went and said to the 

15 high priests, "What will you give 
me for betraying him to you ? " 
And they weighed out for him thirty 

16 silver pieces. From that moment 
he sought a good opportunity to 
betray him. 



On the first day of unleavened 17 
bread the disciples of Jesus came 
up and said to him, " Where do you 
want us to prepare for you to eat 
the passover ? " He said, " Go 18 
into the city to so-and-so ; tell him 
that the Teacher says, ' My time is 
near, I will celebrate the passover 
at your house with my disciples." 
So the disciples did as Jesus had 19 
told them and prepared the pass- 
over. When evening came he lay 20 
at table with the disciples, and as 21 
they were eating he said, " One of 
you is going to betray me.' They 22 
were greatly distressed at this, and 
each of them said to him, " Lord, 
surely it is not me." He answered, 23 
" One who has dipped his hand 
into the same dish as myself is 
going to betray me. The Son of 24 
man goes the road that the scripture 
has described for him, but woe to 
the man by whom the Son of man 
is betrayed ! Better that man had 
never been born ! " Then Judas 25 
his betrayer said, " Surely it is 
not me, Lord ? " He said to him, 
"Is it not?" 

As they were eating he took a 26 
loaf and after the blessing he broke 
it ; then he gave it to the disciples 
saying, " Take and eat this, it 
means my body." He also took 27 
a cup and after thanking God he 
gave it to them saying, " Drink of 
it, all of you ; this means my blood, 28 
the new covenant-blood, shed for 
many, to win the remission of their 
sins. I tell you, after this I will 29 
never drink this produce of the 
vine till the day I drink it new 
with you in the Realm of my 
Father." 

After the hymn of praise they 30 
went out to the Hill of Olives. 
Then Jesus said to them, " You 31 
will all be disconcerted over me 

S7 



S. MATTHEW XXVI 



to-night, for it is written, / will 
strike at the shepherd and the sheep 

32 will be scattered. But after my 
rising I will precede you to Galilee." 

33 Peter answered, " Supposing they 
are all disconcerted over you, I 

34 will not be disconcerted." Jesus 
said to him, " I tell you truly, 
you will disown me three times 
this very night, before the cock 

35 crows." Peter said to him, "Even 
though I have to die with you, 
I will never disown you." And 
all the disciples said the same 
thing. 

36 Then Jesus came with them to 
a place called Gethsemane, and he 
told the disciples, " Sit here till I 

37 go over there and pray." But he 
took Peter and the two sons of 
Zebedaeus along with him; and 
when he began to feel distressed and 

38 agitated, he said to them, "M?/ 
heart is sad, sad even to death; 
stay here and watch with me." 

39 Then he went forward a little and 
fell on his face praying, " My 
Father, if it is possible, let this 
cup pass me. Yet, not what I 

40 will but what thou wilt." Then 
he went to the disciples and found 
them asleep ; and he said to Peter, 
" So the three of you could not 
watch with me for a single hour? 

41 Watch and pray, all of you, so that 
you may not slip into temptation. 
The spirit is eager but the flesh is 

42 weak." Again he went away for 
the second time and prayed, " My 
Father, if this cup cannot pass 
unless I drink it, thy will be done." 

43 And when he returned he found 
them asleep again, for their eyes 

44 were heavy. So he left them and 
went back for the third time, 
praying in the same words as 

45 before. Then he went to the 
disciples and said to them, " Still 

38 



asleep? still resting? The hour is 
near, the Son of man is betrayed 
into the hands of sinners. Come, 46 
get up and let us go. Here is my 
betrayer close at hand ! " While 47 
he was still speaking, up came 
Judas, one of the twelve, accom- 
panied by a large mob with swords 
and clubs who had come from the 
high priests and the elders of the 
people. Now his betrayer had 48 
given them a signal ; he said, " Who- 
ever I kiss, that is the man." So 49 
he went up at once to Jesus ; " Hail, 
rabbi I " he said, and kissed him. 
Jesus said, " My man, do your 50 
errand." Then they laid hands 
on Jesus and seized him. One of 51 
his companions put out his hand, 
drew his sword, and struck the 
servant of the high priest, cutting 
off his ear. Then Jesus said to 52 
him, " Put your sword back into 
its place; all who draw the sword 
will die by the sword. What ! do 53 
you think I cannot appeal to my 
Father to furnish me at this moment 
with over twelve legions of angels ? 
Only, how could the scriptures be 54 
fulfilled then — the scriptures that 
say this must be so ? " At that 55 
hour Jesus said to the crowds, 
" Have you sallied out to arrest 
me like a robber, with swords 
and clubs? Day after day I 
sat in the temple teaching, and 
you never seized me. How- 56 
ever, this has all happened for 
the fulfilment of the prophetic 
scriptures ! " 

Then all the disciples left him 
and fled ; but those who had seized 57 
Jesus took him away to the house 
of Caiaphas the high priest, where 
the scribes and elders had gathered. 
Peter followed him at a distance 58 
as far as the courtyard of the 
high priest, and when he got inside 



S. MATTHEW XXVII 



he sat down beside the attendants 
to see the end. 

59 Now the high priests and the 
whole of the Sanhedrin tried to 
get false witness against Jesus, in 
order to have him put to death; 

60 but they could find none, although 
a number of false witnesses came 
forward. However, two men came 

61 forward at last and said, " This 
fellow declared, ' I can destroy the 
temple of God and build it in three 

62 days.' " So the high priest rose 
and said to him, " Have you no 
reply to make? What of this 

63 evidence against you ? " Jesus 
said nothing. Then the high priest 
addressed him, " I adjure you by 
the living God, tell us if you are 
the Christ, the Son of God ! " 

64 Jesus said to him, " Even so ! 
But I tell you, in future you will 
see the Son of man seated at the 
right hand of the Power, and coming 

65 on the clouds of heaven,''^ Then the 
high priest tore his dress and cried, 
" He has blasphemed I What more 
evidence do we want ? Look, you 
have heard his blasphemy for 

66 yourselves ! What is your view ? " 
They replied, " He is doomed to 

67 death." Then they spat in his 
face and buffeted him, some of 
them cuffing him and crying, 

68 " Prophesy to us, you Christ ! 
tell us who struck you ! " 

69 Now Peter was sitting outside 
in the courtyard. A maidservant 
came up and said to him, " You 
were with Jesus the Galilean too." 

70 But he denied it before them all. 
" I do not know what you mean," 

71 he said. When he went out to 
the gateway another maidservant 
noticed him and said to those who 
were there, " This fellow was with 

72 Jesus the Nazarene." Again he 
denied it ; he swore, " I do not 



know the man." After a little 73 
the bystanders came up and said 
to Peter, " To be sure, you are one 
of them too. Why, your accent 
betrays you ! " At this he broke 74 
out cursing and swearing, " I do 
not know the man." At that 
moment a cock crowed. Then 75 
Peter remembered what Jesus had 
said, that ' before the cock crows 
you will disown me three times.' 
And he went outside and wept 
bitterly. 

CHIP. 

When morning came, all the 27 
high priests and the elders of the 
people took counsel against Jesus, 
so as to have him put to death. 
After binding him, they led him 2 
off and handed him over to Pilate 
the governor. 

Then Judas his betrayer saw 3 
he was condemned, and repented; 
he brought back the thirty silver 
pieces to the high priests and elders, 
saying, " I did wrong in betraying 4 
innocent blood." " What does 
that matter to us ? " they said, '* it 
is your affair, not ours ! " Then 5 
he flung down the silver pieces in 
the temple and went off and hung 
himself. The high priests took the 6 
money and said, " It would be 
wrong to put this into the treasury, 
for it is the price of blood." So 7 
after consulting they bought with 
it the Potter's Field, to serve as a 
burying-place for strangers. That 8 
is why the field is called to this 
day " The Field of Blood." Then 9 
the word spoken by the prophet 
Jeremiah was fulfilled : and I took 
the thirty silver pieces, the price of 
him who had been priced, whom 
they had priced and expelled from 
the sons of Israel ; and I gave them 10 
for the pottefs fields as the Lord had 
bidden me. 



S. MATTHEW XXVII 



11 Now Jesus stood before the gover- 
nor, and the governor asked him, 
" Are you the King of the Jews ? " 

12 Jesus replied, " Certainly." But 
while he was being accused by 
the high priests and elders, he 

13 made no reply. Then Pilate said 
to him, " Do you not hear all 

14 their evidence against you ? " But, 
to Pilate's great astonishment, he 
would not answer him a single 
word. 

15 At festival time the governor 
was in the habit of releasing any 
one prisoner whom the crowd 

16 chose. At that time they had a 
notorious prisoner called Jesus * 

17 Bar- Abbas ; so, when they had 
gathered, Pilate said to them, 
" Who do you want released ? 
Jesus Bar-Abbas or Jesus the so- 

18 called ' Christ ' ? " (He knew 
quite well that Jesus had been 

19 delivered up out of envy. Besides, 
when he was seated on the tribunal, 
his wife had sent to tell him, " Do 
nothing with that innocent man, 
for I have suffered greatly to-day 

20 in a dream about him.") But the 
high priests and elders persuaded 
the crowds to ask Bar- Abbas and 

21 to have Jesus killed. The governor 
said to them, " Which of the two 
do you want me to release for 
you?" "Bar- Abbas," they said. 

22 Pilate said, " Then what am I to 
do with Jesus the so -called 
' Christ ' ? " They all said, " Have 

23 him crucified ! " " Why," said 
Pilate, " what has he done wrong ? " 
But they shouted on more fiercely 

* Adding here and in the following 
verse 'Irjorovv with the Sinaitic (and 
Palestinian) Syriac version, some good 
minuscules, and manuscripts known to 
Origen. The evidence is discussed in 
Professor Burkitt's Evangelion da- 
MepharreshCf ii. 277 f. 

40 



than ever, " Have him crucified 1 " 
Now when Pilate saw that instead 24 
of him doing any good a riot 
was rising, he took some water 
and washed his hands in presence 
of the crowd, saying, " I am in- 
nocent of this man's blood. It is 
your affair ! " To this all the people 25 
replied, " His blood be on us and 
on our children!" Then he released 26 
Bar- Abbas for them; Jesus he 
scourged and handed over to be 
crucified. 

Then the soldiers of the governor 27 
took Jesus into the praetorium and 
got all the regiment round him; 
they stripped him and threw a 28 
scarlet mantle round him, plaited 29 
a crown of thorns and set it on his 
head, put a stick in his hand, and 
knelt before him in mockery, cry- 
ing, " Hail, King of the Jews ! " 
They spat on him, they took the 30 
stick and struck him on the head, 
and after making fun of him they 31 
stripped him of the mantle, put 
on his own clothes, and took him 
off to be crucified. As they went 32 
out they met a Cyrenian called 
Simon, whom they forced to carry 
his cross. When they came to a 33 
place called Golgotha (meaning 
the place of a skull), they gave him 34 
a drink of wine mixed with bitters ; 
but when he tasted it he would not 
drink it. Then they crucified him, 35 
distributed his clothes among them 
by drawing lots, and sat down there 36 
to keep watch over him. They 37 
also put over his head his charge in 
writing, 

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE 
JEWS. 

Two robbers were also crucified with 38 
him at that time, one on the 
right hand and one on the left. 



S. MATTHEW XXVII 



89 Those who passed by scoffed at 
him, nodding at him in derision 

40 and calling, " You were to destroy 
the temple and build it in three 
days ! Save yourself, if you are 
God's Son ! Come down from the 

41 cross ! " So, too, the high priests 
made fun of him with the scribes 

42 and the elders of the people. " He 
saved others," they said, " but he 
cannot save himself ! He the 
' King of Israel ' ! Let him come 
down now from the cross ; then 

43 we will believe in him ! His trust 
is in God? Let God deliver him 
now if He cares for Mm ! He said 

44 he was the Son of God ! " The 
robbers who were crucified with 
him also denounced him in the 
same way. 

45 Now from twelve o'clock to 
three o'clock darkness covered all 

46 the land, and about three o'clock 
Jesus gave a loud cry, " Elei, 
Elei, lema sabachthanei " (that is. 
My God, my God, why hast thou 

47 forsaken me). On hearing this 
some of the bystanders said, " He 

48 is calhng for Elijah." One of 
them ran off at once and took a 
sponge, which he soaked in vinegar 
and put on the end of a stick to 
give him a drink. But the others 

49 said, " Stop, let us see if Elijah 

50 does come to save him ! " But 
Jesus again uttered a loud scream 

51 and gave up his spirit. And the 
curtain of the temple was torn in 
two from top to bottom, the earth 

52 shook, the rocks were split, the 
tombs were opened, and a number 
of bodies of the saints who slept 

53 the sleep of death rose up — ^they 
left the tombs after his resurrection 
and entered the holy city and 
appeared to a number of people. 

54 Now when the army-captain and 
his men who were watching Jesus 



saw the earthquake and all that 
happened they were dreadfully 
afraid ; they said, " This man was 
certainly a son of God I " There 55 
were also a number of women 
there looking on from a distance, 
women who had followed Jesus 
from Galilee and waited on him, 
including Mary of Magdala, Mary 56 
the mother of James and Joseph, 
and the mother of the sons of 
Zebedaeus. 

Now when evening came, a rich 57 
man from Arimathaea, called 
Joseph, who had become a dis- 
ciple of Jesus, went to Pilate 58 
and asked him for the body of 
Jesus. Pilate then ordered the 
body to be handed over to him. 
So Joseph took the body, wrapped 59 
it in clean linen, and put it in his 60 
new tomb, which he had cut in 
the rock; then, after rolling a 
large boulder to the opening of the 
tomb, he went away. 

Mary of Magdala and the other 61 
Mary were there, sitting opposite 
the tomb. 

Next day (that is, on the day 62 
after the Preparation) the high 
priests and Pharisees gathered 
round Pilate and said, " We re- 63 
member, sir, that when this im- 
postor was alive he said, ' I will 
rise after three days.' Now then, 64 
give orders for the tomb to be 
kept secure till the third day, in 
case his disciples go and steal him 
and then tell the people, ' He has 
risen from the dead.' The end of 
the fraud will then be worse than 
the beginning of it." Pilate said 65 
to them, " Take a guard of soldiers, 
go and make it as secure as you 
can." So off they went and made 66 
the tomb secure by putting a seal 
on the boulder and setting the 
guard. 

41 



S. MATTHEW XXVIII 



OHAV. 

28 At the close of the sabbath, as 
the first day of the week was 
dawning, Mary of Magdala and 
the other Mary went to look at the 

2 tomb. But a great earthquake 
took place; an angel of the 
Lord came down from heaven and 
went and rolled away the boulder 

3 and sat on it. His appearance 
was like lightning and his raiment 

4 white as snow. For fear of him 
the sentries shook and became like 

5 dead men ; but the angel addressed 
the women, saying, " Have no 
fear; I know you are looking for 

6 the crucified Jesus. He is not here, 
he has risen, as he told you he 
would. See, here is the place 

7 where he lay. Now be quick and 
go to his disciples, tell them he has 
risen from the dead and that ' he 
precedes you to Galilee; you will 
see him there.' That is my 

8 message for you." Then they ran 
quickly from the tomb in fear and 
great joy, to announce the news 

9 to his disciples. And Jesus him- 
self met them, saying, ' Hail ! ' 
So they went up to him and caught 
hold of his feet and worshipped 

10 him; then Jesus said to them, 
" Have no fear ! Go and tell my 
brothers to leave for Galilee ; they 
will see me there." 



While they were on their way, 11 
some of the sentries went into the 
city and reported all that had taken 
place to the high priests, who, 12 
after meeting and conferring with 
the elders, gave a considerable sum 
of money to the soldiers and told 
them to say that " his disciples 13 
came at night and stole him when 
we were asleep." " If this comes 14 
to the ears of the governor," they 
added, " we will satisfy him and 
see that you have no trouble about 
the matter." So the soldiers took 15 
the money and followed their 
instructions; and this story has 
been disseminated among the Jews 
down to the present day. 

Now the eleven disciples went 16 
to Galilee, to the hill where Jesus 
had arranged to meet them. When 17 
they saw him they worshipped him, 
though some were in doubt. Then 18 
Jesus came forward to them and 
said, " Full authority has been 
given to me in heaven and on 
earth ; go and make disciples of all 19 
nations, baptize them in the name 
of the Father and the Son and the 
holy Spirit, and teach them to obey 20 
all the commands I have laid on 
you. And I will be with you all 
the time, to the very end of the 
world." 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 



S. MAEK 



OHAP. 

1 The beginning of the gospel of 
Jesus Christ [the Son of God]. 

2 As it is written in the prophet 
Isaiah, 

Here I send my messenger before 
your face 
to prepare the way for you : 
8 the voice of one who cries in the 
desert, 
' Make the way ready for the 

Lord, 
level the paths for him ' — 

4 John appeared baptizing in the 
desert and preaching a baptism of 
repentance for the remission of 

5 sins ; and the whole of Judaea 
and all the people of Jerusalem 
went out to him and got baptized 
by him in the Jordan river, confess- 

6 ing their sins. John was dressed 
in earners hair, with a leather 
girdle round his loins, and he ate 

7 locusts and wild honey. He an- 
nounced, 

" After me one who is mightier 
will come, 
and I am not fit to stoop and 
untie the string of his 
sandals : 

8 I have baptized you with water, 

but he will baptize you with 
the holy Spirit." 

9 Now it was in those days that 
Jesus arrived from Nazaret in 
Galilee and got baptized in the 

10 Jordan by John. And the moment 
he rose from the water he saw the 
heavens cleft and the Spirit coming 
down upon him like a dove; 

11 then said a voice from heaven, 



* Thou art my Son, the Beloved, 
in thee is my delight.* 

Then the Spirit drove him imme- 12 
diately into the desert, and in 13 
the desert he remained for forty 
days, while Satan tempted him; 
he was in the company of wild 
beasts, but angels ministered to 
him. 

After John had been arrested 14 
Jesus went to Galilee preaching 
the gospel of God ; he said, " The 15 
time has now come, God's reign 
is near : repent and believe in the 
gospel." 

Now as he passed along the sea 16 
of Galilee he saw Simon and 
Simon's brother Andrew netting 
fish in the sea — for they were 
fishermen ; so Jesus said to them, 17 
" Come, follow me and I will make 
you fish for men." At once they 18 
dropped their nets and went after 
him. Then going on a little further 19 
he saw James the son of Zebedaeus 
and his brother John; they too 
were in their boat, mending their 
nets ; he called them at once, and 20 
they left their father Zebedaeus in 
the boat with the crew and went to 
follow him. 

They then entered Capharnahum. 21 
As soon as the sabbath came, he at 
once began to teach in the syna- 
gogue ; and they were astounded 22 
at his teaching, for he taught them 
like an authority, not like the 
scribes. Now there was a man 23 
with an unclean spirit in their 
synagogue, who at once shrieked 

43 



S. MARK II 



24 out, " Jesus of Nazaret, what busi- 
ness have you with us ? Have you 
come to destroy us? We know 
who you are, you are God's holy 

25 One." But Jesus checked it ; " Be 
quiet," he said, " come out of him." 

26 And after convulsing him the un- 
clean spirit did come out of him 

27 with a loud cry. Then they were 
all so amazed that they discussed 
it together, saying, "Whatever 
is this ? " " It's new teaching 
with authority behind it ! " " He 
orders even unclean spirits ! " 
" Yes, and they obey him ! " 

28 So his fame at once spread in 
all directions through the whole 
of the surrounding country of 
Galilee. 

29 On leaving the synagogue they 
went straight to the house of 
Simon and Andrew, accompanied 

30 by James and John. Simon's 
mother-in-law was in bed with 
fever, so they told him at once 

31 about her, and he went up to her 
and taking her hand made her 
rise ; the fever left her at once and 

32 she ministered to them. Now 
when evening came, when the sun 
set, they brought him all who were 
ill or possessed by daemons — 

33 indeed the whole town was gathered 

34 at the door — and he cured many 
who were ill with various diseases 
and cast out many daemons; but 
as the daemons knew him he would 
not let them say anything. Then 

35 in the early morning, long before 
daylight, he got up and went away 
out to a lonely spot. He was 

36 praying there when Simon and his 

37 companions hunted him out and 
discovered him; they told him, 
" Everybody is looking for you," 

38 but he said to them, " Let us go 
somewhere else, to the adjoining 
country-towns, so that I may preach 

U 



there as well ; that is why I came 
out here." And he went preach- 89 
ing in their synagogues throughout 
the whole of Galilee, casting out 
daemons. 

A leper came to him beseeching 40 
him on bended knee, saying, " If 
you only choose, you can cleanse 
me ; " so he stretched his hand out 41 
in pity and touched him saying, 
" I do choose, be cleansed." And 42 
the leprosy at once left him and he 
was cleansed. Then he sent him 43 
off at once with the stern charge, 
" See, you are not to say a word to 44 
anybody ; away and show yourself 
to the priest and offer what Moses 
prescribed for your cleansing, to 
notify men." But he went off and 45 
proceeded to proclaim it aloud and 
spread news of the affair both far 
and wide. The result was that 
Jesus could no longer enter any 
town openly ; he stayed outside in 
lonely places, and people came to 
him from every quarter. 

CHAP. 

When he entered Capharnahum 2 
again after some days it was re- 
ported that he was at home, and 2 
a large number at once gathered, till 
there was no more room for them, 
not even at the door. He was speak- 
ing the word to them, when a 3 
paralytic was brought to him ; four 
men carried him, and as they could 4 
not get him near Jesus on account 
of the crowd they tore up the roof 
under which he stood and through 
the opening they lowered the pallet 
on which the paralytic lay. When 5 
Jesus saw their faith, he said to 
the paralytic, " My son, your sins 
are forgiven." Now there were 6 
some scribes sitting there who 
argued in their hearts, " What does 7 
the man mean by talking like this ? 



S. MARK II 



It is blasphemy ! Who can forgive 

8 sins, who but God alone ? " Con- 
scious at once that they were 
arguing to themselves in this way, 
Jesus asked them, " Why do you 

9 argue thus in your hearts ? Which 
is the easier thing, to tell the para- 
lytic, ' Your sins are forgiven,' or 
to tell him, * Rise, lift your pallet, 

10 and walk * ? But to let you see 
the Son of man has power on earth 
to forgive sins " — he said to the 

11 paralytic, " Rise, I tell you, lift 

12 your pallet, and go home." And 
he rose, lifted his pallet at once, 
and went off before them all; at 
this they were all amazed and 
glorified God sa3dng, " We never 
saw the like of it ! " 

13 Then he went out again by the 
seaside, and all the crowd came to 

14 him and he taught them. As he 
passed along he saw Levi the son 
of Alphaeus sitting at the tax- 
office; he said to him, "Follow 
me," and he rose and followed him. 

15 Now Levi was at table in his own 
house, and he had many tax- 
gatherers and sinners as guests 
along with Jesus and his disciples 
— for there were many of them 

16 among his followers. So when 
some scribes of the Pharisees saw 
he was eating with taxgatherers 
and sinners they said to his dis- 
ciples, " Why does he eat and 
drink with taxgatherers and 

17 sinners ? " On hearing this, Jesus 
said to them, 

" Those who are strong have no 
need of a doctor, but those 
who are ill : 
I have not come to call just men 
but sinners." 

18 As the disciples of John and 
of the Pharisees were observing 
a fast, people came and asked 
him, " Why do John's disciples 



and the disciples of the Pharisees 
fast, and your disciples do not 
fast? " Jesus said to them, 19 

" Can friends at a wedding fast 
while the bridegroom is be- 
side them ? 
As long as they have the 
bridegroom beside them 
they cannot fast. 
A time will come when the bride- 20 
groom is taken from them; 
then they will fast, on that 
day. 
No one stitches a piece of un- 21 
dressed cloth on an old 
coat, 
otherwise the patch breaks 
away, the new from the 
old, 
and the tear is made worse : 
no one pours fresh wine into old 22 
wineskins, 
otherwise the wine will burst 

the \vineskins, 
and both wine and wineskins 
are ruined." * 
Now it happened that he was 23 
passing through the cornfields on 
the sabbath, and as the disciples 
made their way through they began 
to pull the ears of corn. The 24 
Pharisees said to him, " Look at 
what they are doing on the sabbath! 
That is not allowed." He said to 25 
them, " Have you never read what 
David did when he was in need and 
hungry, he and his men ? He 26 
went into the house of God 
(Abiathar was high priest then) 
and ate the loaves of the Presence 
which no one except the priests is 
allowed to eat, and also shared them 
with his followers." And he said 27 
to them, 

* Omitting a\\^ oivov veov els atTKoi/s 
Kaivovs, a harmonistic addition from the 
parallel passage in Luke v. 38 and 
Matthew ix. 17. 

45 



S. MARK III 



" The sabbath was made for man, 
not man for the sabbath : 
28 so that the Son of man is Lord 

even over the sabbath." 

CHAP. 

3 Again he entered a synagogue. 
Now a man was there whose hand 

2 was Mdthered, and they watched 
to see if he would heal him on the 
sabbath, so as to get a charge 

3 against him. He said to the man 
with the withered hand, " Rise 

4 and come forward ; " then he asked 
them, "Is it right to help or to 
hurt on the sabbath, to save life 
or to kill ? " They were silent. 

5 Then glancing round him in anger 
and vexation at their obstinacy 
he told the man, " Stretch out 
your hand." He stretched it out 
and his hand was quite restored. 

6 On this the Pharisees withdrew 
and at once joined the Herodians 
in a plot against him, to destroy 
him. 

7 Jesus retired with his disciples 
to the sea, and a large number of 
people from Galilee followed him; 
also a large number came to him 

8 from Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, 
the other side of the Jordan, and 
the neighbourhood of Tyre and 
Sidon, as they had heard of his 

9 doings. So he told his disciples to 
have a small boat ready; it was 
to prevent him being crushed by 

10 the crowd, for he healed so many 
that all who had complaints were 
pressing on him to get a touch of 

11 him. And whenever the unclean 
spirits saw him they fell down 
before him, screaming, " You are 

12 the Son of God I " But he charged 
them strictly and severely not to 
make him known. 

13 Then he went up the hillside 
and summoned the men he wanted, 

46 



and they went to him. He ap- 14 
pointed twelve to be with him, 
also that he might despatch them to 
preach with the power of casting 15 
out daemons; there was Simon, 16 
whom he surnamed Peter, James 17 
the son of Zebedaeus and John 
the brother of James (he surnamed 
them Boanerges, or " Sons of 
thunder "), Andrew, Philip, Bar- 18 
tholomew, Matthew, Thomas, 
James the son of Alphaeus, Thad- 
daeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas 19 
Iscariot who betrayed him. 

Then they went indoors, but the 20 
crowd gathered again, so that it 
was impossible even to have a 
meal. And when his family heard 21 
this, they set out to get hold of 
him, for what they said was, " He 
is out of his mind." But the 22 
scribes who had come down from 
Jerusalem said, *' He has Beelze- 
bul," and "It is by the prince of 
daemons that he casts out 
daemons." So he called them 23 
and said to them by way of 
parable, " How can Satan cast out 
Satan ? 

If a realm is divided against itself, 24 

that realm cannot stand : 
if a household is divided against 25 
itself, 
that household cannot stand : 
and if Satan has risen against 26 
himself and is divided, 
he cannot stand, he comes 
to an end. 
No one can enter the strong man's 27 
house and plunder his goods un- 
less first of all he binds the strong 
man; then he can plunder his 
house. I tell you truly, 28 

the sons of men shall be forgiven 
all their sins, 
and all the blasphemies they 

may utter, 
but whoever blasphemes 29 



S. MARK IV 



against the holy Spirit is 
never forgiven, 
he is guilty of an eternal sin." 

80 (This was because they said, " He 

81 has an unclean spirit.") Then 
came his mother and his brothers, 
and standing outside they sent to 

82 call him ; there was a crowd sitting 
round him, and he was told, 
" Here are your mother and 
brothers and sisters wanting you 

33 outside." He replied, " Who are 
my mother and my brothers ? " 

34 And glancing at those who were 
sitting round him in a circle he 
said, " There are my mother and 

35 my brothers ! Whoever does the 
will of God, that is my brother and 
sister and mother." 

CHAP. 

4 Once more he proceeded to 
teach by the seaside, and a huge 
crowd gathered round him; so he 
entered a boat on the sea and sat 
down, while all the crowd stayed 

2 on shore. He gave them many 
lessons in parables, and said to them 
in the course of his teaching : 

3 " Listen, a sower went out to sow, 

4 and as he sowed it chanced that 
some seed fell on the road, and the 

5 birds came and ate it up ; some 
other seed fell on stony soil where 
it had not much earth, and it shot 
up at once because it had no depth 

6 of earth, but when the sun rose it 
got scorched and withered away, 
because it had no root; some 

7 other seed fell among thorns, and 
the thorns sprang up and choked it, 

8 so it bore no crop ; some other seed 
fell on good soil and bore a crop 
that sprang up and grew, jdelding 
at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a 

9 hundredfold." He added, "Any- 
one who has ears to hear, let him 
listen to this." 



When he was by himself his 10 
adherents and the twelve asked him 
about the parables, and he said 11 
to them : " The open secret of 
the Realm of God is granted 
to you, but these outsiders get 
everything by way of parables, so 
that 

for all their seeing they may not 12 
perceive, 

and for all their hearing they may 
not understand, 
lest they turn and he forgiven" 
And he said to them, " You do 13 
not understand this parable ? Then 
how are you to understand the 
other parables ? The sower sows 14 
the word. As for those * on the 15 
road,' when the seed is sown there — 
as soon as they hear it, Satan at 
once comes and carries off the word 
sown within them. Similarly those 16 
who are sown * on stony soil ' are 
the people who on hearing the 
word accept it * with enthusiasm ; 
but they have no root in themselves, 17 
they do not last ; the next thing is 
that when the word brings trouble 
or persecution, they are at once 
repelled. Another set are those 18 
who are sown ' among thorns ' ; 
they listen to the word, but the 19 
worries of the world and the delight 
of being rich and all the other 
passions come in to choke the word ; 
so it proves unfruitful. As for 20 
those who were sown * on good soil,' 
these are the people who listen to 
the word and take it in and bear 
fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, 
and a hundredfold." 

He also said to them, 21 

* Omitting fvBis with D, the Sinaitio 
Syriac, some manuscripts of the Old 
Latin, etc. The tendency was to add 
Mark's evQis rather than omit it, especially 
when it occurred as here in the Matthew- 
parallel (xiii. 20). 

47 



S. MARK V 



** Is a lamp brought to be placed 
under a bowl or a bed ? 
Is it not to be placed upon the 
stand ? 

22 Nothing is hidden except to be 

disclosed, 
nothing concealed except to be 
revealed. 

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let 

24 him listen to this." Also he said 
to them, " Take care what you 
hear; the measure you deal out 
to others will be dealt out to 
yourselves, and you will receive 
extra. 

25 For he who has, to him shall more 

be given ; 
while as for him who has not, 
from him shall be taken 
even what he has." 

26 And he said, "It is with the 
Realm of God as when a man has 

27 sown seed on earth ; he sleeps at 
night and rises by day, and the seed 
sprouts and shoots up — he knows 

28 not how. (For the earth bears 
crops by itself, the blade first, 
the ear of corn next, and then the 

29 grain full in the ear.) But when- 
ever the crop is ready, he has the 
sickle put in at once, as harvest 

30 has come." He said also, 

" To what can we compare the 
Reahnof God? 
how are we to put it in a parable ? 

31 It is like a grain of mustard- 
seed — ^less than any seed on earth 

32 when it is sown on earth; but 
once sown it springs up to be larger 
than any plant, throwing out such 
big branches that the wild birds 

33 can roost under its shadow, ^^ In 
many a parable like this he spoke 
the word to them, so far as they 

34 could listen to it; he never spoke 
to them except by way of parable, 
but in private he explained every- 
thing to his own disciples. 

48 



That same day when evening 35 
came he said to them, " Let us 
cross to the other side ; "so, leaving 36 
the crowd, they took him just as 
he was in the boat, accompanied by 
some other boats. But a heavy 37 
squall of wind came on, and the 
waves splashed into the boat, so 
that the boat filled. He was 38 
sleeping on the cushion in the stern, 
so they woke him up saying, 
" Teacher, are we to drown for all 
you care?" And he woke up, 39 
checked the wind, and told the sea, 
"Peace, be quiet." The wind fell 
and there was a great calm. 
Then he said to them, " Why are 40 
you afraid like this? Why not 
have faith ? " But they were over- 41 
awed and said to each other, 
" Whatever can he be, when the 
very wind and sea obey him." 

CHAP. 

Then they reached the opposite 5 
side of the sea, the country of the 
Gerasenes. And as soon as he 2 
stepped out of the boat a man from 
the tombs came to meet him, a man 
with an unclean spirit who dwelt 3 
among the tombs; by this time 
no one could bind him, not even 
with a chain, for he had often been 4 
bound with fetters and chains and 
had snapped the chains and broken 
the fetters — ^nobody could tame 
him. All night and day among 5 
the tombs and the hills he shrieked 
and gashed himself with stones. 
On catching sight of Jesus from 6 
afar he ran and knelt before him, 
shrieking aloud, " Jesus, son of 7 
God most High, what business 
have you with me? By God, I 
adjure you, do not torture me." 
(For he had said, " Come out of 8 
the man, you unclean spirit.") 
Jesus asked him, " What is your 9 



S. MARK V 



name ? " " Legion," he said, 

10 " there is a host of us." And they 
begged him earnestly not to send 

11 them out of the country. Now a 
large drove of swine was grazing 

12 there on the liillside ; so the 
spirits begged him saying, " Send 
us into the swine, that we may 

13 enter them." And Jesus gave 
them leave. Then out came the 
unclean spirits and entered the 
swine, and the drove rushed down 
the steep slope into the sea (there 
were about two thousand of them) 
and in the sea they were drowned. 

14 The herdsmen fled and reported 
it to the town and the hamlets. 
So the people came to see what 

15 had happened, and when they 
reached Jesus they saw the lunatic 
sitting down, clothed and in his 
sober senses — ^the man who had 
been possessed by ' Legion.' That 

16 frightened them. And those who 
had seen it related to them what had 
happened to the lunatic and the 

17 swine. Then they began begging 

18 Jesus to leave their district. As he 
was stepping into the boat the 
lunatic begged that he might 

19 accompany him; but he said, 
" Go home to your own people, 
and report to them all the Lord 
has done for you and how he took 

20 pity on you." So he went off and 
began to proclaim throughout 
Decapolis all that Jesus had done 
for him; it made everyone 
astonished. 

21 Now when Jesus had crossed in 
the boat to the other side again, a 
large crowd gathered round him; 
so he remained beside the sea. 

22 A president of the synagogue called 
Jairus came up, and on catching 
sight of him fell at his feet with 

23 earnest entreaties. " My little girl 
is dying," he said, " do come and 



lay your hands on her that she may 
recover and live." So Jesus went 24 
away with him. Now a large 
crowd followed him; they pressed 
round him. And there was a 25 
woman who had had a hemorrhage 
for twelve years — ^she had suffered 26 
a great deal under a number of 
doctors and had spent all her 
means but was none the better; 
in fact she was rather worse. She 27 
heard about Jesus, got behind him 
in the crowd, and touched his 
robe ; " if I can touch even his 28 
clothes," she said to herself, " I 
will recover." And at once the 29 
hemorrhage stopped, and she felt 
in her body that she was cured of 
her complaint. Jesus was at once 30 
conscious that some healing virtue 
had passed from him, so he turned 
round in the crowd and asked, 
" Who touched my clothes ? " His 31 
disciples said to him, " You see the 
crowd are pressing round you, and 
yet you ask, ' Who touched me ? ' " 
But he kept looking round to see 32 
who had done it, and the woman, 33 
knowing w^hat had happened to 
her, came forward in fear and 
trembling and fell down before 
him, telling him all the truth. He 34 
said to her, " Daughter, your faith 
has made you well; go in peace 
and be free from your complaint." 
He was still speaking when a 35 
message came from the house of 
the synagogue-president, " Your 
daughter is dead. Why trouble 
the teacher to come any further ? " 
But Jesus ignored the remark 36 
and told the president, " Have no 
fear, only believe." He would not 37 
allow anyone to accompany him 
except Peter and James and John 
the brother of James. So they 38 
reached the president's house, where 
he saw a din of people wailing 

49 



S. MARK VI 



89 and making shrill lament ; and on 
entering he asked them, " Why 
make a noise and wail ? The child 

40 is not dead but asleep." They 
laughed at him. However, he put 
them all outside and taking the 
father and mother of the child as 
well as his companions he went 
in to where the child was lying; 

41 then he took the child's hand and 
said to her, " Talitha koum " — 
which may be translated, " Little 
girl, I am telling you to rise." 

42 The girl got up at once and began 
to walk (she was twelve years old) ; 
and at once they were lost in utter 

43 amazement. But he strictly for- 
bade them to let anyone know 
about it, and told them to give her 
something to eat. 

CHAP. 

6 Leaving there he went to his 
native place, follov/ed by his dis- 

2 ciples. When the sabbath came, 
he began to teach in the syna- 
gogue, and the large audience was 
astounded. " Where did he get 
all this ? " they said. " What is 
the meaning of this vdsdom he 
is endowed with? And these 
miracles, too, that his hands per- 

3 form ! Is this not the joiner, the 
son of Mary and the brother of 
James and Joses and Judas and 
Simon ? Are not his sisters settled 
here among us ? " So they were 

4 repelled by him. Then Jesus said 
to them, '* A prophet never goes 
without honour except in his native 
place and among his kinsfolk and 

5 in his home." There he could not 
do any miracle, beyond laying his 
hands on a few sick people and 

6 curing them. He was astonished 
at their lack of faith. 

Then he made a tour round the 

7 villages, teaching. And summon- 

60 



ing the twelve he proceeded to 
send them out two by two ; he 
gave them power over the unclean 
spirits, and ordered them to take 8 
nothing but a stick for the journey, 
no bread, no wallet, no coppers in 
their girdle; they were to wear 9 
sandals, but not to put on two 
shirts, he said. Also, he told 10 
them, " Wherever you enter a 
house, stay there till you leave 
the place. And if any place vdll 11 
not receive you and the people will 
not listen to you, shake off the 
very dust under j^^our feet when you 
leave as a warning to them." 
So they went out and preached 12 
repentance; also they cast out 13 
a number of daemons and cured 
a number of sick people by anoint- 
ing them with oil. 

Now this came to the hearing of 14 
king Herod, for the name of Jesus 
had become well known ; people 
said,* " John the Baptizer has risen 
from the dead, that is why miracu- 
lous powers are working through 
him; " others said, " It is EHjah," 15 
others again, " It is a prophet, like 
one of the old prophets." But 16 
when Herod heard of it he said, 
" John has risen, the John I be- 
headed." For this Herod had sent 17 
and arrested John and bound him 
in prison on account of his marriage 
to Herodias the wife of his brother 
Philip; John had told Herod, 18 
" You have no right to your 
brother's wife." Herodias had a 19 
grudge against him; she wanted 
him killed but she could not manage 
it, for Herod stood in awe of John, 20 
knoAving he was a just and holy 
man ; so he protected John — he 
was greatly exercised when he 
listened to him, still he was glad 

* Reading eXeyov with B D and the 
Old Latin. 



S. MARK VI 



21 to listen to him. Then came a 
holiday, when Herod held a feast 
on his birthday for his chief 
officials and generals and the not- 

22 ables of GaHlee. The daughter of 
Herodias went in and danced to 
them, and Herod and his guests 
were so delighted that the king 
said to the girl, " Ask anything 
you like and I will give you it." 

23 He swore to her, " I will give you 
whatever you want, were it the 

24 half of my realm." So she went 
out and said to her mother, 
"What am I to ask?" "John 
the Baptizer's head," she answered. 

25 Then she hurried in at once and 
asked the king, saying, " I want 
you to give me this very moment 
John the Baptist's head on a 

26 dish." The king was very vexed, 
but for the sake of his oaths and 
his guests he did not like to dis- 

27 appoint her ; so the king at once 
sent one of the guard with orders 
to bring his head. The man went 
and beheaded him in the prison, 

28 brought his head on a dish, and 
gave it to the girl; and the girl 

29 gave it to her mother. When his 
disciples heard of it they went and 
fetched his body and laid it in a 
tomb. 

30 Now the apostles gathered to 
meet Jesus and reported to hira 
all they had done and taught. 

31 And he said to them, " Come away 
to some lonely spot and get a little 
rest " (for there were many people 
coming and going, and they could 

32 get no time even to eat). So they 
went away privately in the boat 

83 to a lonely spot. However a 
number of people who saw them 
start and recognized them, got to 
the place before them by hurrying 
there on foot from all the towns. 

84 So when Jesus disembarked he saw 



a large crowd, and out of pity for 
them, as they were like sheep 
without a shepherd, he proceeded 
to teach them at length. Then, 35 
as the day was far gone, his 
disciples came up to him, saying, 
" It is a desert place and the day 
is now far gone ; send them off to 36 
the farms and villages round about 
to buy some food for themselves." 
He replied, " Give them some food, 37 
yourselves." They said, " Are we 
to go and buy ten pounds' worth of 
food and give them that to eat ? " 
He said, " How many loaves have 38 
you got? Go and see." When 
they found out they told him, 
"Five, and two fish." Then he 39 
gave orders that they were to make 
all the people lie down in parties 
on the green grass ; so they ar- 40 
ranged themselves in groups of 
a hundred and of fifty. And he 41 
took the five loaves and the two 
fish, and looking up to heaven he 
blessed them, broke the loaves 
in pieces which he handed to 
the disciples to set before them, 
and divided the two fish among 
them all. They all ate and had 42 
enough ; besides, the fragments of 43 
bread and of fish which were 
picked up filled twelve baskets. 
(The number of men who ate the 44 
loaves was five thousand.) 

Then he made the disciples at 45 
once embark in the boat and cross 
before him towards Bethsaida, 
while he dismissed the crowd; 
and after saying goodbye to them 46 
he went up the hill to pray. Now 47 
when evening came the boat was 
in the middle of the sea, and he was 
on the land alone ; but when he 48 
saw them buffeted as they rowed 
(for the wind was against them) 
he went to them about the fourth 
watch of the night walking on the 

61 



S. MARK VII 



49 sea. He meant to pass them, but 
when they saw him walking on the 
sea they thought it was a ghost 

50 and shrieked aloud — ^for they all 
saw him and were terrified. Then 
he spoke to them at once; 
" Courage," he said, " it is I, have 

51 no fear." And he got into the 
boat beside them, and the wind 
dropped. They were utterly as- 

52 tounded, for they had not under- 
stood the lesson of the loaves; 
their minds were dull. 

53 On crossing over they came to 
land at Gennesaret and moored to 

54 the shore. And when they had 
disembarked, the people at once 

55 recognized Jesus ; they hurried 
round all the district and proceeded 
to carry the sick on their pallets 
wherever they heard that he 

56 was ; whatever village or town or 
hamlet he went to, they would lay 
their invalids in the marketplace, 
begging him to let them touch even 
the tassel of his robe — ^and all who 
touched him recovered. 



7 Now the Pharisees gathered 
to meet him, with some scribes 
who had come from Jerusalem. 

2 They noticed that some of his 
disciples ate their food with 
' common ' (that is, unwashed) 

8 hands. (The Pharisees and all the 
Jews decline to eat till they wash 
their hands up to the wrist, in 
obedience to the tradition of the 

4 elders ; they decline to eat what 
comes from the market till they 
have washed it; and they have a 
number of other traditions to keep 
about washing cups and jugs and 

6 basins and beds.) Then the Phari- 
sees and scribes put this question 
to him, " Why do your disciples 
not follow the tradition of the 
62 



elders? Why do they take their 
food with ' common ' hands ? " He 
said to them, " Isaiah made a grand 6 
prophecy about you hypocrites — 
as it is written. 

This people honours me with their 

lips, 
hut their heart is far away from 
. me : 

vain is their worship of me, 7 

for the doctrines they teach are 

hut human precepts. 
You drop what God commands 8 
and hold to human tradition. 
Yes, forsooth," he added, " you 9 
set aside what God commands, so 
as to maintain your own tradition. 
Thus, Moses said, Honour yowr 10 
father and mother, and, He who 
curses his father or mother is to 
suffer death. But you say that 11 
if a man tells his father or mother, 
' This money might have been at 
your service, but it is Korban ' 
(that is, dedicated to God), he is 12 
exempt, so you hold, from doing 
anything for his father or mother. 
That is repealing the word of Gk)d 13 
in the interests of the tradition 
which you keep up. And you do 
many things like that." Then he 14 
called the crowd to him again 
and said to them, " Listen to 
me, all of you, and understand 
this : — 

nothing outside a man can defile 15 

him by entering him; 
it is what comes from him that 

defiles him. 
If anyone has ears to hear, let 16 
him listen to this." 

Now when he went indoors away 17 
from the crowd, his disciples asked 
him the meaning of this parabolic 
saying. He said to them, " So you 18 
do not understand, either ? Do you 
not see how nothing outside a man 
can defile him by entering him? 



S. MARK VIII 



19 It does not enter his heart but 
his belly and passes from that into 
the drain " (thus he pronounced 

20 all food clean). " No," he said, 
" it is what comes from a man, that 

21 is what defiles him. From within, 
from the heart of man, the designs 

22 of evil come : sexual vice, stealing, 
murder, adultery, lust, malice, 
deceit, sensuality, envying, slander, 

23 arrogance, recklessness, all these 
evils issue from within and they 
defile a man." 

24 Leaving there, he went away to 
the territory of Tyre and Sidon. 
He went into a house and wished 
no one to know of it, but he could 

25 not escape notice ; a woman heard 
of him, whose daughter had an 
unclean spirit, and she came and 

26 fell at his feet (the woman was a 
pagan, of Syro-phoenician birth) 
begging him to cast the daemon out 

27 of her daughter. He said to her, 
" Let the children be satisfied first 
of all; it is not fair to take the 
children's bread and throw it to 

28 the dogs." She answered him, 
" No, sir, but under the table the 
dogs do pick up the children's 

29 crumbs." He said to her, " Well, 
go your way; the daemon has 
left your daughter, since you have 

30 said that." So she went home 
and found the child lying in 
bed and Ijhe daemon gone from 
her. 

31 He left the territory of Tyre 
again and passed through Sidon 
to the sea of Galilee, crossing the 

32 territory of Decapohs. And a deaf 
man who stammered was brought 
to him, with the request that he 

33 would lay his hand on him. So 
taking him aside from the crowd 
by himself, he put his fingers into 
the man's ears, touched his tongue 

84 with saliva, and looking up to 



heaven with a sigh he said to him, 
" Ephphatha " (which means. 
Open). Then his ears were at 35 
once opened and his tongue freed 
from its fetter — he began to speak 
correctly. Jesus forbade them to 36 
tell anyone about it, but the more 
he forbade them the more eagerly 
they made it public ; they were 37 
astounded in the extreme, saying, 
" How splendidly he has done every- 
thing I He actually makes the 
deaf hear and the dumb speak 1 " 

CHAP. 

In those days, when a large 8 
crowd had again gathered and 
when they had nothing to eat, he 
called his disciples and said to 
them, " I am sorry for the crowd ; 2 
they have been three days with 
me now, and they have nothing 
to eat. If I send them home 3 
without food they will faint on the 
road. Besides, some of them have 
come a long way." His disciples 4 
replied, " Where can one get loaves 
to satisfy them in a desert spot 
like this?" He asked them, " How 5 
many loaves have you got ? " 
They said, "Seven." So he or- 6 
dered the crowd to recline on the 
ground, and taking the seven 
loaves he gave thanks, broke them, 
and gave them to his disciples to 
serve out. They served them out 
to the crowd, and as they also had 7 
a few small fish, he blessed them 
too and told the disciples to serve 
them out as well. So the people 8 
ate and were satisfied, and they 
picked up seven baskets of fragments 
which were left over. (There were 9 
about four thousand of them.) 
Then he sent them away, embarked 10 
at once in the boat with his 
disciples, and went to the district 
of Dalmanutha. 

53 



S. MARK VIII 



11 Now the Pharisees came out and 
started to argue with him, asking 
him for a Sign from heaven, by 

12 way of tempting him. But he 
sighed in spirit and said, 

* Why does this generation de- 
mand a Sign? 
I tell you truly, no Sign shall 
be given this generation." 

13 Then he left them, embarked again, 
and went away to the opposite 
side. 

14 They had forgotten to bring any 
bread, and had only one loaf with 

15 them in the boat. So he cautioned 
them, " See and beware of the 
leaven of the Pharisees and the 
leaven of Herod." " Leaven ? " 

16 they argued to themselves, " we 

17 have no bread at all." He noted 
this and said to them, " Why do 
you argue you have no bread ? Do 
you not see, do you not understand, 
even yet? Are you still dull of 
heart ? 

18 You have eyes, do you not 

see? 
you have ears, do you not 
hear? 

19 Do you not remember how many 
baskets full of fragments you picked 
up when I broke the five loaves 
for the five thousand?" They 

20 said, " Twelve." " And how many 
basketfuls of fragments did you 
pick up when I broke the seven 
loaves for the seven thousand ? " 

21 They said, " Seven." " Do you 
not understand now ? " he said. 

22 Then they reached Bethsaida. 
A blind man was brought to him 
with the request that he would 

23 touch him. So he took the blind 
man by the hand and led him out- 
side the village ; then, after spitting 
on his eyes, he laid his hands on 
him and asked him, " Do you see 

24 anything ? " He began to see and 

54 



said, " I can make out people, for 
I see them as large as trees, mov- 
ing." At this he laid his hands on 25 
his eyes once more, and the man 
stared in front of him; he was 
quite restored and saw everything 
distinctly. And Jesus sent him 26 
home, saying, " Do not go even 
into the village." 

Then Jesus and his disciples set 27 
off for the villages of Caesarea 
Philippi; and on the road he 
inquired of his disciples, " Who do 
people say I am?" "John the 28 
Baptist," they told him, " though 
some say Elijah and others say 
you are one of the prophets." 
So he inquired of them, *' And 29 
who do you say I am ? " Peter 
replied, " You are the Christ." 
Then he forbade them to tell any- 30 
one about him. And he proceeded 31 
to teach them that the Son of 
man had to endure great suffering, 
to be rejected by the elders and 
the high priests and the scribes, to 
be killed and after three days to 
rise again ; he spoke of this quite 32 
freely. Peter took him and began 
to reprove him for it, but he turned 33 
on him and noticing his disciples 
reproved Peter, telling him, " Get 
behind me, you Satan ! Your out- 
look is not God's but man's." 
Then he called the crowd to him 34 
with his disciples and said to them, 
" If anyone wishes to follow me, 
let him deny himself, take up his 
cross, and so follow me ; 

for whoever wants to save his 35 
life will lose it, 

and whoever loses his life for 
my sake and the gospel's 
will save it. 
What profit is it for a man to gain 36 
the whole world and to forfeit his 
soul ? What could a man offer as 37 
an equivalent for his soul ? 



S. MARK IX 



88 Whoever is ashamed of me and my 
words in this disloyal and sinful 
generation, the Son of man will be 
ashamed of him when he comes in 
the glory of his Father with the 
holy angels. 
9 ** I tell you truly," he said, 
" there are some of those standing 
here who will not taste death till 
they see the coming of God's Reign 
with power." 

2 Six days afterwards Jesus took 
Peter, James and John, and led 
them up a high hill by themselves 
alone; in their presence he was 

3 transfigured, and his clothes glis- 
tened white, vivid white, such as 
no fuller on earth could bleach them. 

4 And Elijah along with Moses ap- 
peared to them, and conversed 

5 with Jesus. So Peter addressed 
Jesus, saying, " Rabbi, it is a good 
thing we are here; let us put up 
three tents, one for you, one for 

6 Moses, and one for Ehjah " (for 
he did not know what to say, they 

7 were so terrified). Then a cloud 
came overshadowing them, and 
from the cloud a voice said, " This 
is my Son, the Beloved, listen to 

8 him." And suddenly looking 
round they saw no one there except 

9 Jesus all alone beside them. As 
they went down the hill, he forbade 
them to tell anyone what they had 
seen, till such time as the Son of 

10 man rose from the dead. This 
order they obeyed, debating with 
themselves what ' rising from the 

11 dead ' meant. So they put this 
question to him, " Why do the 
Pharisees and scribes say that 
Elijah has to come first ? " He 

12 said to them, " Elijah does come 
first, to restore all things ; but what 
is written about the Son of man 
as well ? This, that he is to endure 
great suffering and be rejected. 



As for Elijah, I tell you he has 13 
come already, and they have done 
to him whatever they pleased — 
as it is written of him." When 14 
they reached the disciples they saw 
a large crowd round them, and 
some scribes arguing with them. 
On seeing him the whole crowd 15 
was thunderstruck and ran to greet 
him. Jesus asked them, " What 16 
are you discussing with them ? " 
A man from the crowd answered 17 
him, " Teacher, I brought my son 
to you ; he has a dumb spirit, 
and whenever it seizes him it throws 18 
him down, and he foams at the 
mouth and grinds his teeth. He 
is wasting away with it; so I told 
your disciples to cast it out, but 
they could not." He answered 19 
them, " O faithless generation, how 
long must I still be with you ? how 
long have I to bear with you ? 
Bring him to me." So they brought 20 
the boy to him, and when the spirit 
saw Jesus it at once convulsed the 
boy; he fell on the ground and 
rolled about foaming at the mouth. 
Jesus asked his father, " How long 21 
has he been like this ? " " From 22 
childhood," he said ; " it has thrown 
him into fire and water many a 
time, to destroy him. If you can 
do anything, do help us, do have 
pity on us." Jesus said to him, 23 
" ' If you can ' ! Anything can be 
done for one who believes." At 24 
once the father of the boy cried 
out, " I do believe ; help my un- 
belief." Now as Jesus saw that a 25 
crowd was rapidly gathering, he 
checked the unclean spirit. " Deaf 
and dumb spirit," he said, " leave 
him, I command you, and never 
enter him again." And it did 26 
come out, after shrieking aloud 
and convulsing him violently. The 
cliild turned like a corpse, so that 

65 



S. MARK IX 



most people said, " he is dead " ; 

27 but, taking his hand, Jesus raised 

28 him and he got up. When he 
went indoors his disciples asked 
him in private, " Wliy could we 

29 not cast it out ? " He said to 
them, "Nothing can make this 
kind come out but prayer and 
fasting." 

30 On leaving there they passed 
through Galilee. He did not want 
anyone to know of their journey, 

31 for he was teacliing his disciples, 
telling them that the Son of man 
would be betrayed into the hands 
of men, that they would kill him, 
and that when he was killed he 
would rise again after three days. 

32 But they did not understand what 
he said, and they were afraid to 
ask him what he meant. 

33 Then they reached Capharnahum. 
And when he got into the house 
he asked them, " What were you 
arguing about on the road ? " 

84 They said nothing, for on the road 
they had been disputing about 
which of them was the greatest. 

35 So he sat down and called the 
twelve. " If anyone wants to be 
first," he said to them, " he must 
be last of all and the servant 

36 of all." Then he took a little 
child, set it among them, and 
putting his arms round it said to 
them, 

37 " Whoever receives one of these 

little ones in my name 
receives me, 
and whoever receives me receives 
not me but him who sent 
me." 

38 John said to him, " Teacher, we 
saw a man casting out daemons in 
your name ; but he does not follow 
us, and so we stopped liim." Jesus 

S9 said, " Do not stop him ; no one 
who performs any miracle in my 
66 



name will be ready to speak evil 
of me. He who is not against us 40 
is for us. 

Whoever gives you a cup of 41 
water because you belong to Christ, 
I tell you truly, he shall not miss 
his reward. 

And whoever is a hindrance to 42 
one of these little ones who believe, 
it were better for him to have a 
great millstone hung round his 
neck and be thrown into the 
sea. 

If your hand is a hindrance to 43 
you, cut it off : 
better be maimed and get into 
Life, 
than keep your two hands 
and go to Gehenna, to the 
fire that is never quenched. 
If your foot is a hindrance to you, 45 
cut it off : 
better get into Life a cripple, 
than keep your two feet and 
be thrown into Gehenna. 
If your eye is a hindrance to you, 47 
tear it out : 
better get into God's Realm 
.with one eye, 
than keep your two eyes 
and be thrown into 
Gehenna, 
where their worm never dies 48 
and the fire is never put 
out. 
Everyone has to be consecrated* 49 
by the fire of discipline. 

Salt is excellent : 50 

but if salt is tasteless, how are 

you to restore its flavour? 

* The Greek word aKKre-na-eTai literally 
means ' salted,' the metaphor being 
taken from the custom of using salt in 
sacrifices (cp. e.g. Levit. ii. 13; Josephus, 
Antiquities, iii. 9. 1). " There is fire to 
be encountered afterwards if not now; 
how much better to face it now and by 
self-sacrifice insxire against the future '* 
(Professor Meuzies). 



S. MARK X 



Let there be * salt between you ' ; 
be at peace with one another." 

OHIP. 

10 Then he left and went to the 
territory of Judaea over the Jordan. 
Crowds gathered to him again, and 
again he taught them as usual. 

2 Now some Pharisees came up and 
asked him if a man was allowed 
to divorce his wife. This was to 

3 tempt him. So he replied, " WTiat 
did Moses lay down for you ? " 

4 They said, " Moses permitted a man 
to divorce her by writing out a 

5 separation notice.'' Jesus said to 
them, " He wrote you that com- 
mand on account of the hardness 

6 of your hearts. But from the 
beginning, when God created the 
world, 

Male and female. He created them : 

7 hence a man shall leave his father 

and mother, 

8 and the pair shall be one flesh. 
So they are no longer two, but one 

9 flesh. What God has joined, then, 

10 man must not separate." Indoors, 
the disciples again asked him about 

11 this, and he said to them, " Who- 
ever divorces his wife and marries 
another woman is an adulterer to 

12 the former, and she is an adulteress 
if she divorces her husband and 
marries another man." 

18 Now people brought children for 
him to touch them, and the 

14 disciples checked them ; but Jesus 
was angry when he saw this, and he 
said to them, " Let the children 
come to me, do not stop them : the 
Realm of God belongs to such as 

15 these. I tell you truly, whoever 
will not submit to the Reign of God 
like a child will never get into it 

16 at all." Then he put his arms 
round them, laid his hands on them 
and blessed them. 



As he went out on the road a man 17 
ran up and knelt down before him. 
" Good teacher," he asked, " what 
must I do to inherit hfe eternal ? " 
Jesus said to him, " Why call me 18 
' good ' ? No one is good, no one 
but God. You know the com- 19 
mands : do not commit adultery, 
do not kill, do not steal, do not bear 
false witness, do not defraud, honour 
your father and mother.'' " Teach- 20 
er," he said, "I have observed all 
these commands from my youth." 
Jesus looked at him and loved him. 21 
" There is one thing you want," 
he said ; " go and sell all you have ; 
give the money to the poor and 
you will have treasure in heaven; 
then come and follow me." But 22 
his face fell at that, and he went 
sadly away, for he had great 
possessions. Jesus looked round 23 
and said to his disciples, "How 
difficult it is for those who have 
money to get into the Realm 
of God ! " The disciples were 24 
amazed at what he said; so he 
repeated, " My sons, how difficult 
it is [for those who rely on money] 
to get into the Realm of God ! It 25 
is easier for a camel to get through 
a needle's eye than for a rich man to 
get into the Realm of God." They 26 
were more astounded than ever; 
they said to themselves, " Then who 
ever can be saved ? " Jesus looked 27 
at them and said, " For men it is 
impossible, but not for God : any- 
thing is possible for God." Peter 28 
began, " Well, we have left our 
all and followed you." Jesus said, 29 
" I tell you truly, no one has left 
home or brothers or sisters or 
mother or father or children or 
lands for my sake and for the sake 
of the gospel, who does not get a 30 
hundred times as much — in this 
present world homes, brothers, 

67 



S. MARK XI 



sisters, mothers, children and lands, 
together with persecutions, and in 
the world to come life eternal. 

31 Many who are first will be last, and 
many who are last will be first." 

32 They were on the way up to 
Jerusalem, Jesus walking in front 
of them; the disciples were in 
dismay and the company who 
followed were afraid. So once 
again he took the twelve aside and 
proceeded to tell them what was 

33 going to happen to himself. " We 
are going up to Jerusalem," he 
said, " and the Son of man will be 
betrayed to the high priests and 
scribes ; they will sentence him to 
death and hand him over to the 

34 Gentiles, who will mock him, spit 
on him, scourge him, and kill him ; 
then after three days he will rise 
again." 

35 James and John, the sons of 
Zebedaeus, came up to him saying, 
*' Teacher, we want you to do what- 

36 ever we ask you." So he said, 
" What do you want me to do for 

37 you? " They said to him, " Give 
us seats, one at your right hand 
and one at your left hand, in your 

38 glory." Jesus said, " You do not 
know what you are asking. Can 
you drink the cup I have to drink, 
or undergo the baptism I have to 

39 undergo ? " They said to him, 
" We can." Jesus said, " You 
shall drink the cup I have to drink 
and undergo the baptism I have 

40 to undergo ; but it is not for me to 
grant seats at my right or my left 
hand — ^these belong to the men for 
whom they have been destined." 

41 Now when the ten heard of this, 
they burst into anger at James and 

42 John ; so Jesus called them and said, 
" You know the so-called rulers 

of the Gentiles lord it over 
them. 
68 



and their great men overbear 
them : 
not so with you. 43 

Whoever wants to be great among 

you must be your servant, , 

and whoever of you wants to be 44 ! 

first must be your slave ; 
for the Son of man himself has 45 
not come to be served but 
to serve, 
and to give his life as a ran- 
som for many." 
Then they reached Jericho ; and 46 
as he was leaving Jericho with his 
disciples and a considerable crowd, 
the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the 
blind beggar who sat beside the 
road, heard it was Jesus of Nazaret. 47 
So he started to shout, " Son of 
David ! Jesus ! have pity on me." 
A number of the people checked him 48 
and told him to be quiet, but he 
shouted all the more, " Son of 
David, have pity on me ! " Jesus 49 
stopped and said, " Call him." 
Then they called the blind man and 
told him, " Courage ! Get up, he 
is calling you." Throwing off his 50 
cloak he jumped up and went to 
Jesus. Jesus spoke to him and 51 
said, " What do you want me to do 
for you ? " The blind man said, 
" Rabboni, I want to regain my 
sight." Then Jesus said, " Go, 52 
your faith has made you well; " 
and he regained his sight at once 
and followed Jesus along the road. 

OHAP. 

Now when they came near Jeru- 1 1 
salem, near Bethphage and Beth- 
any, at the Hill of Olives, he des- 
patched two of his disciples, saying 2 
to them, " Go to the village in front 
of you. As soon as you enter it 
you will find a colt tethered, on 
which no one has ever sat; un- 
tether it and bring it here. If any- 3 



S. MARK XI 



one asks you, ' Why are you doing 
that ? ' say, * The Lord needs it, 
and he will send it back immedi- 

4 ately.' " Off they went and found 
a colt tethered outside a door in the 

5 street. They untethered it ; but 
some of the bystanders said to them, 
*' What do you mean by untethering 

6 that colt? " So they answered as 
Jesus had told them, and the men 

7 allowed them to go. Then they 
brought the colt to Jesus, and when 
they had put their clothes on it 

8 Jesus seated himself. Many also 
spread their clothes on the road, 
while others strewed leaves cut 

9 from the fields ; and both those in 
front and those who followed 
shouted, 

" Hosanna ! 
Blessed he he who comes in the 
Lord's name ! 

10 Blessed be the Reign to come, 

our father David's reign. 
Hosanna in high heaven ! " 

11 Then he entered Jerusalem, en- 
tered the temple, and looked round 
at everything; but as it was late 
he went away with the twelve to 
Bethany. 

12 Next day, when they had left 

13 Bethany, he felt hungry, and 
noticing a fig tree in leaf some 
distance away he went to see if he 
could find anything on it ; but when 
he reached it he found nothing but 
leaves, for it was not the time for 

14 figs. Then he said to it, " May no 
one ever eat fruit from you after 
this ! " The disciples heard him 
say it. 

15 Then they came to Jerusalem, 
and entering the temple he started 
to drive out those who were buying 
and selling inside the temple; he 
upset the tables of the money- 
changers and the stalls of those who 

16 sold doves, and would not allow any- 



one to carry a vessel through the 
temple ; also he taught them. " Is 17 
it not written," he asked, " My 
house shall he called a house of prayer 
for all nations ? You have made it 
a den of rohhers" This came to 18 
the ears of the high priests and 
scribes, and they tried to get him 
put to death, for they were afraid of 
him. But the multitude were all 
astounded at his teaching. And 19 
when evening came he went out- 
side the city. 

Now as they passed in the morn- 20 
ing they noticed the fig tree had 
withered to the root. Then Peter 21 
remembered. " Rabbi," he said, 
" there is the fig tree you cursed, 
all withered ! " Jesus answered 22 
them, " Have faith in God ! I tell 23 
you truly, whoever says to this hill, 
' Take and throw yourself into the 
sea,' and has not a doubt in his 
mind but believes that what he 
says will happen, he will have it 
done. So I tell you, whatever you 24 
pray for and ask, believe you have 
got it and you shall have it. Also, 25 
whenever you stand up to pray, if 
you have anything against anybody, 
forgive him, so that your Father 
in heaven may forgive you your 
trespasses." 

Once more they came to Jeru- 27 
salem. And as he was walking 
within the temple the high priests 
and scribes and elders came and 
asked him, " What authority have 28 
you for acting in this way ? Who 
gave you authority to act in this 



way 



Jesus said to them, " I 29 



am going to ask you a ques- 
tion. Answer this, and I will tell 
you what authority I have for 
acting as I do. What about the 30 
baptism of John? Was it from 
heaven or from men ? " Now they 31 
argued to themselves, " [What are 



S. MARK XII 



32 we to say ?] If we say, * From 
heaven,' he will ask, ' Then why 
did you not believe him.' No, let 
us say. From men " — but they 
were afraid of the people, for the 
people all held John had been really 

33 a prophet. So they replied to Jesus, 
" We do not know." Jesus said to 
them, " No more will I tell you 
what authority I have for acting 
as I do." 

OHAP. 

12 Then he proceeded to address 
them in parables. " A man planted 
a vineyard, fenced it round, dug a 
trough for the winepress, and built a 
tower ; then he leased it to vine- 

2 dressers and went abroad. When 
the season came round he sent a 
servant to the vinedressers to collect 
from the vinedressers some of the 

3 produce of the vineyard, but they 
took and flogged him and sent him 

4 off with nothing. Once more he 
sent them another servant; him 
they knocked on the head and in- 

5 suited. He sent another, but they 
killed him. And so they treated 
many others; some they flogged 

6 and some they killed. He had still 
one left, a beloved son; he sent 
him to them last, saying, ' They 

7 will respect my son.' But these 
vinedressers said to themselves, 
' Here is the heir ; come on, let us 

8 kill him, and the inheritance will 
be our own.' So they took and 
killed him, and threw him outside 

9 the vineyard. Now what will the 
owner of the vineyard do? He 
will come and destroy the vine- 
dressers, and he will give the vine- 

10 yard to others. Have you not even 
read this scripture? — 
The stone that the builders rejected 
is the chief stone now of the 
corner : 
60 



this is the doing of the Lord, 11 

and a wonder to our eyes" 
Then they tried to get hold of him, 12 
but they were afraid of the crowd. 
They knew he had meant the 
parable for them. 

So they left him and went away. 
But the}'- sent some of the Pharisees 13 
and Herodians to him for the pur- 
pose of catching him with a ques- 
tion. They came up and said to 14 
him, " Teacher, we know you are 
sincere and fearless; you do not 
court human favour, you teach the 
Way of God honestly. Is it right to 
pay taxes to Caesar or not? Are 15 
we to pay, or are we not to pay ? " 
But he saw their trick and said to 
them, " Why tempt me ? Bring 
me a shilling. Let me see it." 
So they brought one. He said, 16 
" Whose likeness, whose inscription 
is this?" "Caesar's," they said. 
Jesus said to them, " Give Caesar 17 
what belongs to Caesar, give God 
what belongs to God." He aston- 
ished them. 

Sadducees, men who hold there 18 
is no resurrection, also came up and 
put a question to him. " Teacher," 19 
they said, " Moses has written this 
law for us, that if a man's brother 
dies leaving a wife but no child, his 
brother is to take the woman and raise 
offspring for his brother, Novy there 20 
were seven brothers. The first 
married a wife and died leaving 
no offspring : the second took her 21 
and died without leaving any off- 
spring : so did the third : none of 22 
the seven left any offspring. Last 
of all the woman died too. At the 23 
resurrection, when they rise, whose 
wife will she be? She was wife to 
the seven of them." Jesus said to 24 
them, " Is this not where you go 
wrong ? — you understand neither 
the scriptures nor the power of God. 



S. MARK Xni 



25 When people rise from the dead 
they neither marry nor are married, 
they are hke the angels in heaven. 

26 As for the dead being raised, have 
you not read in the book of Moses, 
at the passage on the Bush, how- 
God said to him, / am the God of 
Abraham and the God of Isaac and 

27 the God of Jacob ? He is not the 
God of dead people but of living. 
You are far wrong." 

28 Then a scribe came up, who had 
listened to the discussion. Knowing 
Jesus had given them an apt answer, 
he put this question to him, " What 
is the chief of all the commands ? " 

29 Jesus replied, " The chief one is : 
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is 

30 one Lord, and you must love the Lord 
your God with your whole heart, 
with your whole soul, with your 
whole mind, and with your whole 

31 strength. The second is this : You 
must love your neighbour as yourself. 
There is no other command greater 

32 than these." The scribe said to him, 
" Right, teacher ! You have truly 
said. He is One, and there is none 

33 else but Him. Also, to love him 
with the whole heart, with the whole 
understanding, and with the whole 
strength, and to love one's neigh- 
bour as oneself — that is far more 
than all holocausts and sacrifices." 

34 Jesus noted his intelligent answer 
and said to him, " You are not far 
off the Realm of God." After that 
no one ventured to put any more 
questions to him. 

35 And as Jesus taught in the temple 
he asked, " How can the scribes say 
that the Christ is David's son? 

36 David himself said in the holy 
Spirit, 

The Lord said to my Lord, * Sit at 

my right hand, 
till I put your enemies under your 

feet: 



David here calls him Lord. Then 37 
how can he be his son ? " 

Now the mass of the people lis- 
tened with delight to him. And in 3S 
the course of his teaching he said, 
''Beware of the scribes! They 
like to walk about in long robes, to 
get saluted in the marketplaces, to 
secure the front seats in the syna- 39 
gogues and the best places at 
banquets ; they prey upon the 40 
property of widows and ofier long 
unreal prayers. All the heavier 
will their sentence be ! " 

Sitting down opposite the treas- 41 
ury, he watched the people putting 
their money into the treasury. A 
number of the rich were putting in 
large sums, but a poor widow came 42 
up and put in two little coins 
amounting to a halfpenny. And 43 
he called his disciples and said to 
them, " I tell you truly, this poor 
widow has put in more than all 
who have put their money into the 
treasury ; for they have all put in 44 
a contribution out of their surplus, 
but she has given out of her needi- 
ness all she possessed, her whole 
living." 

CHAP. 

As he went out of the temple one 1 3 
of his disciples said to him, " Look, 
teacher, what a size these stones 
and buildings are ! " Jesus said to 2 
him, " You see these great build- 
ings? Not a stone shall be left 
on another, without being torn 
down." 

And as he sat on the Hill of Olives 3 
opposite the temple, Peter and 
James and John and Andrew asked 
him in private, " Tell us, w^ien is this 4 
to happen ? What will be the sign 
for all this to be accomplished? " 
So Jesus began : " Take care that 5 
no one misleads you : — many will 6 
come in my name saying, * I am he.' 

6J 



S, MARK XIII 



7 and mislead many. And when you 
hear of wars and rumours of war, 
do not be alarmed; these have to 

8 come, but it is not the end yet. For 
nation will rise against nation, and 
realm against realm ; there will be 
earthquakes here and there, and 
famines too. All that is but the 

9 beginning of the trouble. Look 
to yourselves. Men will hand you 
over to Sanhedrins and you will 
be flogged in synagogues and 
brought before governors and kings 
for my sake, to testify to them. 

10 (Ere the end, the gospel must be 

11 preached to all nations.) Now 
when they carry you off to trial, do 
not worry beforehand about what 
you are to say ; say whatever comes 
to your lips at the moment, for he 
who speaks is not you but the holy 

12 Spirit. Brother will betray brother 
to death, the father will betray his 
child, children will rise against 

13 their parents and kill them, and 
you will be hated by all men on 
account of my name ; but he will be 
saved who holds out to the very 
end. 

14 But whenever you see the ap- 
palling Horror standing where he 
has no right to stand (let the reader 
note this), then let those who are 

15 in Judaea fly to the hills; a man 
on the housetop must not go down 
into the house or go inside to fetch 

16 anything out of his house, and a 
man in the field must not turn 

17 back to get his coat. Woe to 
women with child and to women 
who give suck in those days ! 

18 Pray it may not be winter when 

19 it comes, for those days will be 
days of misery, the like of which has 
never been from the beginning of 
God's creation until now — no and 

20 never shall be. Had not the Lord 
cut short those days, not ^ soul 

6^ 



would be saved alive; but he has 
cut them short for the sake of the 
elect whom he has chosen. 

If anyone tells you at that time, 21 
* Look, here is the Christ,' or, ' Look, 
there he is,' do not believe it; for 22 
false Christs and false prophets will 
rise and perform signs and wonders 
to mislead the elect if they can. 
Now take care ! I am telling you 23 
of it all beforehand. 

But when that misery is past, 24 
in those days, 

the sun will be darkened 

and the moon will not yield her 
light, 

the stars will drop from heaven, 25 
and the orbs of the heavens will 
be shaken. 
Then they will see the Son of man 26 
coming in the clouds with great 
power and glory. Then he will 27 
despatch his angels and muster the 
elect from the four winds, from 
the verge of earth to the verge of 
heaven. 

Let the fig tree teach you a 28 
parable. As soon as its branches 
turn soft and put out leaves, you 
know summer is at hand ; so, when- 29 
ever you see this happen, you may 
be sure He is at hand, at the very 
door. 

I tell you truly, the present 30 
generation will not pass away till 
all this happens. Heaven and earth 31 
will pass away, but my words 
never. 

Now no one knows anything 32 
about that day or hour, not even 
the angels in heaven, not even the 
Son, but only the Father. Take 33 
care, keep awake ; you never know 
the time. It is like a man leaving 34 
his house to go abroad ; he puts his 
servants in charge, each with his 
work to do, and he orders the por- 
ter to keep watch. Watch then, 35 



S. MARK XIV 



for you never know when the Lord 

of the House will come, in the late 
evening or at midnight or at cock- 

36 crow or in the morning. Watch, 
in case he comes suddenly and finds 

37 you asleep. Watch : I say it to you, 
and I say it to all." 

OHAP. 

14 The passover and the festival of 
unleavened bread fell two days 
later ; so the high priests and scribes 
were trying how to get hold of 
him by craft and have him put 

2 to death. " Only," they said, 
" it must not be during the fes- 
tival; that would mean a popular 
riot." 

3 Now when he was at Bethany in 
the house of Simon the leper, lying 
at table, a woman came up with an 
alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, 
which had cost a great sum; the 
flask she broke and poured the per- 

4 fume over his head. This angered 
some of those present. " What 
was the use of wasting perfume like 

5 this ? This perfume might have 
been sold for over three hundred 
shillings, and the poor might have 
got that." So they upbraided her. 

6 But Jesus said, " Let her alone. 
Why are you annoying her? She 
has done a beautiful thing to me. 

7 The poor you always have beside 
you, and you can be kind to them 
whenever you want; but you will 

8 not always have me. She has done 
all she could — she has anticipated 
the perfuming of my body for 

9 burial. I tell you truly, v>^herever 
the gospel is preached all over the 
world, men will speak of what she 
has done in memory of her." 

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 
twelve, went to the high priests to 

11 betray him to them. They were 
delighted to hear it, and promised 



to pay him for it. Meantime he 
sought a good opportunity for be- 
traying him. 

On the first day of unleavened 12 
bread (the day when the paschal 
lamb was sacrificed) his disciples 
said to him, " Where do you want 
us to go and prepare for you to eat 
the passover? " So he despatched 13 
two of his disciples, telling them, 
" Go into the city and you will 
meet a man carrying a water- jar; 
follow him, and whatever house he 14 
goes into, tell the owner that the 
Teacher says, ' Where is my room, 
that I may eat the passover there 
with my disciples ? ' He will show 15 
yen a large room upstairs, with 
couches spread, all ready; prepare 
the passover for us there." The 16 
disciples went away into the city 
and found it was as he had told 
them. So they prepared the pass- 
over, and when evening fell he 17 
arrived along with the twelve. As 18 
they were at table eating, Jesus 
said, " Truly I tell you, one of you 
is going to betray me, one who is 
eating with me." They got dis- 19 
tressed at this, and they said to 
him one after another, " Surely not 
me?" "One of the twelve," he 20 
told them, " one who is dipping into 
the same dish as I am. The Son of 21 
man goes the road that the scripture 
has described for him, but woe to 
the man by whom the Son of man 
is betrayed ! Better that man 
had never been born ! " And as 22 
they were eating he took a loaf and 
after the blessing he broke and gave 
it to them, saying, " Take this, it 
means my body." He also took a 23 
cup and after thanking God he gave 
it to them, and they all drank of it ; 
he said to them, " This means my 24 
covenant-blood which is shed for 
many ; truly I tell you, I will never 25 

63 



S. MARK XIV 



drink the produce of the vine again 
till the day I drink it new within 
the Realm of God." 

26 After the hymn of praise they 
went out to the Hill of Olives. 

27 Jesus said to them, " You will all 
be disconcerted, for it is written : 
/ will strike at the shepherd and the 

28 sheep will be scattered. But after 
my rising I will precede you to 

29 Galilee." Peter said to him, 
" Though all are disconcerted, I 

30 will not be." Jesus said to him, 
" I tell you truly, to-day you will 
disown me three times, this very 
night, before the cock crows 

81 twice." But he persisted, " Though 
I have to die with you, I mil never 
disown you." And they all said 
the same. 

82 Then they came to a place 
called Gethsemane, and he told 
his disciples, " Sit here till I pray." 

88 But he took Peter and James and 
John along with him ; and as he 
began to feel appalled and agitated, 

34 he said to them, "M?/ heart is sad, 
sad even to death; stay here and 

35 watch." Then he went forward a 
little and fell to the earth, praying 
that the hour might pass away 

86 from him, if possible. " Abba, 
Father," he said, " Thou canst do 
anything. Take this cup away 
from me. Yet, not what I will but 

37 what thou wilt." Then he came 
and found them asleep; so he said 
to Peter, "Are you sleeping, Simon ? 
Could you not watch for a single 

38 hour ? Watch and pray, all of you, 
so that you may not slip into 
temptation. The spirit is eager 

39 but the flesh is weak." Again he 
went away and prayed in the same 

40 words as before; then he returned 
and found them once more asleep, 
for their eyes were heavy. They 
did not know what to say to him. 



Then he came for the third time and 41 
said to them, " Still asleep ? still 
resting ? No more of that ! The 
hour has come, here is the Son of 
man betrayed into the hands of 
sinners. Come, get up, here is my 42 
betrayer close at hand." At that 43 
very moment, while he was still 
speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of 
the twelve came up accompanied 
by a mob with swords and clubs 
who had come from the high priests 
and scribes and elders. Now his 44 
betrayer had given them a signal; 
he said, " Whoever I kiss, that is 
the man. Seize him and get him 
safely away." So when he arrived 45 
he at once went up to him and said, 
" Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. 
Then they laid hands on him and 46 
seized him, but one of the by- 47 
standers drew his sword and struck 
the servant of the high priest, cutting 
off his ear. Jesus turned on them, 48 
saying, " Have you sallied out to 
arrest me like a robber, with swords 
and clubs? Day after day I was 49 
beside you in the temple teaching, 
and you never seized me. How- 
ever, it is to let the scriptures be 
fulfilled." 

Then they left him and fled, all 50 
of them ; one young man did follow 51 
him, with only a linen sheet thrown 
round his body, but when the 52 
[young] men seized him he fled 
away naked, leaving the sheet be- 
hind him. 

They took Jesus away to the 58 
high priest, and all the high priests 
and scribes and elders went with 
him. Peter followed him at a dis- 54 
tance till he got inside the court- 
yard of the high priest, where he 
sat do"v\Ti with the attendants to 
warm himself at the fire. 

Now the high priests and the 55 
whole of the Sanhedrin tried to get 



S. MARK XV 



evidence against Jesus, in order to 
have him put to death; but they 

56 could find none, for while many 
bore false vntness against liim their 

57 evidence did not agree. Some got 
up and bore false witness against 

58 him, saying, " We heard him say, 
* I will destroy this temple made 
by hands, and in three days I will 
build another temple not made by 

59 hands.' But even so the evidence 

60 did not agree. So the high priest 
rose in their midst and asked Jesus, 
"Have you no reply to make ? What 
about this evidence against you ? " 

61 He said nothing and made no 
answer. Again the high priest put 
a question to him. " Are you the 
Christ? " he said, " the Son of the 

62 Blessed ? " Jesus said, " I am. 
And, what is more, you will see 
the Son of man sitting at the right 
hand of the Power and coming with 

63 the clouds of heaven J^ Then the 
high priest tore his clothes and 
cried, " What more evidence do we 

64 want ? You have heard his blas- 
phemy for yourselves. What is 
your mind?" They condemned 
him, all of them, to the doom of 

65 death ; and some of them started 
to spit on him and to blindfold 
him and buffet him, asking 
him, "Prophesy." The attend- 
ants-created him to cuffs and 



laps 

66 Now as Peter was downstairs in 
the courtyard, a maidservant of the 
high priest came along, and when 

67 she noticed Peter warming himself 
she looked at him and said, " You 
were with Jesus of Nazaret too," 

68 But he denied it. " I do not know," 
he said, " I have no idea what you 
mean." Then he went outside into 
the passage. The cock crowed. 

69 Again the maidservant who had 
noticed him began to tell the by- 



standers, " That fellow is one of 
them." But he denied it again. 70 
After a little the bystanders once 
more said to Peter, " To be sure, 
you are one of them. Why, you 
are a Galilean ! " * But he broke 71 
out cursing and swearing, "I do 
not know the man you mean." At 72 
that moment the cock crowed for 
the second time. Then Peter re- 
membered how Jesus had told him, 
" Before the cock crows twice you 
will disown me thrice;" and he 
burst into tears. 

CHAP. 

Immediately morning came, the 1 5 
high priests held a consultation 
with the elders and scribes and all 
the Sanhedrin, and after binding 
Jesus they led him off and handed 
him over to Pilate. Pilate asked 2 
him, " Are you the king of the 
Jews ? " He rephed, " Certainly." 
Then the high priests brought many 3 
accusations against him, and once 
more Pilate asked him, " Have you 4 
no reply to make? Look at all 
their charges against you." But, 5 
to the astonishment of Pilate, Jesus 
answered no more. Now at f esti- 6 
val time he used to release for them 
some prisoner whom they begged 
from him. (There was a man 7 
called Bar-Abbas in prison, among 
the rioters who had committed 
murder during the insurrection.) 
So the crowd pressed up and started 8 
to ask him for his usual boon. 
Pilate replied, " Would you like 9 
me to release the king of the Jews 
for you ? " (For he knew the high 10 
priests had handed him over out 
of envy.) But the high priests 11 
stirred up the crowd to get him to 
release Bar-Abbas for them instead. 
Pilate asked them again, "And what 12 

* Omitting [koI yi KaKui cov ifiodCei]. 

66 



S. MARK XV 



am T to do with your so-called King 

13 of the Jews ? " Whereupon they 
shouted again, " Crucify him." 

14 " Why," said Pilate, ''what has he 
done wrong? " But they shouted 
more fiercely than ever, " Crucify 

15 him ! " So, as Pilate wanted to 
satisfy the crowd, he released Bar- 
Abbas for them ; Jesus he handed 
over to be crucified, after he had 
scourged him. 

16 The soldiers took him inside the 
courtyard (that is, the praetorium) 
and got all the regiment together; 

17 then they dressed him in purple, 
put on his head a crown of thorns 

18 which they had plaited, and began 
to salute him with, '* Hail, O king 

19 of the Jews ! " They struck him on 
the head with a stick and spat upon 
him and bent their knees to him in 

20 homage. Then, after making fun 
of him, they stripped off the purple, 
put on his own clothes, and took 

21 him away to crucify him. They 
forced Simon a Cyrenian who was 
passing on his way from the country 
(the father of Alexander and Rufus) 

22 to carry his cross, and they led him 
to the place called Golgotha (which 

23 means the place of a skull). They 
offered him wine flavoured with 
myrrh, but he would not take it. 

24 Then they crucified him and dis- 
tributed his clothes among them- 
selves ^ drawirg lots for them to de- 

25 cide each man's share. It was nine 
in the morning when they cruci- 

26 fied him. The inscription bearing 
his charge was : 

THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

27 They also crucified two robbers 
along vdth him, one at his right and 

29 one at his left. Those who passed 

by scoffed at him, nodding at him 

in derision and calling, " Ha ! You 

were to destroy the temple and 

66 



build it in three days I Come down 30 
from the cross and save yourself ! " 
So, too, the high priests made fun of 81 
him to themselves with the scribes; 
" he saved others," they said, " but 
he cannot save himself ! Let ' the 32 
Christ,' ' the king of Israel ' come 
down now from the cross ! Let us 
see that and we will believe ! " 
Those who were crucified with him 
also denounced him. 

When twelve o'clock came, dark- 33 
ness covered the whole land till 
three o'clock, and at three o'clock 34 
Jesus gave a loud cry, " Eldi, Eloi, 
lema sabachthanei " (which means, 
My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me ?) On hearing this some 35 
of the bystanders said, " Look, he 
is calling for Elijah." One man ran 36 
off, soaked a sponge in vinegar, and 
put it on the end of a stick to give 
him a drink, saying, " Come on, 
let us see if Ehjah does come to 
take him down ! " But Jesus gave 37 
a loud cry and expired. And the 38 
curtain of the temple was torn in 
two, from top to bottom. Now 39 
when the army-captain who stood 
facing him saw that he expired in 
this way, he said, " This man was 
certainly a son of God." There 40 
were some women also watching at a 
distance, among them Mary of Mag- 
dala, Mary the mother of James the 
younger and of Joses, and Salome, 
women who had followed him when 41 
he was in Galilee and waited on 
him, besides a number of other 
women who had accompanied him 
to Jerusalem. 

By this time it was evening, and 42 
as it was the day of Preparation 
(that is, the day before the sabbath) 
Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor 43 
of good position who himself was 
on the outlook for the Reign of 
God, ventured to go to Pilate and 



S. MARK XVI 



44 ask for the body of Jesus. Pilate 
was surprised that he was dead 
already ; he summoned the captain 
and asked if he had been dead 

45 some time, and on ascertaining 
this from the captain he bestowed 

46 the corpse on Joseph. He, after 
buying a linen sheet, took him 
down and swathed him in the 
linen, laying him in a tomb which 
had been cut out of the rock and 
rolling a boulder up against the 

47 opening of the tomb. Now Mary 
of Magdala and Mary the mother 
of Joses noted where he was laid. 



16 And when the sabbath had 
passed Mary of Magdala, Mary 
the mother of James, and Salome 
bought some spices in order to go 

2 and anoint him ; and very early on 
the first day of the week they went 

3 to the tomb, at sunrise. They said 
to themselves, " Who will roll away 
the boulder for us at the opening 
of the tomb ? " (for it was a very 

4 large boulder).* But when they 
looked they saw the boulder had 

5 been rolled to one side, and on enter- 
ing the tomb they saw a youth 
sitting on the right dressed in a 
white robe. They were bewildered, 

6 but he said to them, " Do not be 
bewildered. You are looking for 
Jesus of Nazaret, who was cruci- 
fied ? He has risen, he is not here. 
That is the place where he was laid. 

7 Go you and tell his disciples and 
Peter, ' He precedes you to Galilee ; 
you will see him there, as he told 

8 you.' " And they fled out of the 
tomb, for they were seized with 
terror and beside themselves. They 

* Transposing the second clause of 
ver. 4 to the end of ver. 3. 



said nothing to anyone, for they 
were afraid of — .f 

(a) 
Now after he rose early on the 9 
first day of the week, he appeared 
first to Mary of Magdala out of 
whom he had cast seven daemons. 
She went and reported it to those 10 
who had been with him, as they 
mourned and wept; but although 11 
they heard he was alive and had 
been seen by her they would not 
believe it. After this he appeared 12 
in another form to two of them as 
they were walking on their way 
to the country. They too went 13 
and reported it to the rest, but they 
would not believe them either. 
Afterwards he appeared at table 14 
to the eleven themselves and re- 
proached them for their unbelief 
and dulness of mind, because they 
had not believed those who saw him 
risen. [But they excused themselves, 
saying, " This age of lawlessness 
and unbelief lies under the sway 
of Satan, who will not allow what 
lies under the unclean spirits J to 
understand the truth and power of 
God ; therefore," they said to Christ, 
" reveal your righteousness now." 
Christ answered them, " The limit 
of years for Satan's power has now 
expired, but other terrors are at 
hand. I was delivered to death on 
behalf of sinners, § that they might 
return to the truth and sin no more, 

f The following appendix represents a 
couple of second century attempts to 
complete the gospel. The passage within 
brackets in the first of these epilogues 
originally belonged to it, but was excised 
for some reason at an early date. Jerome 
quoted part of it, but the full text has 
only been discovered quite recently in 
codex W, the Freer uncial of the gospels. 

I Or, the unclean things that he under 
the control of spirits. 

§ The Greek is obscure at this point. 

67 



S. MARK XVI 



that they might inherit that glory 
of righteousness which is spiritual 

15 and imperishable in heaven."] And 
he said to them, "Go to all the 
world and preach the gospel to 
every creature : 

16 he who believes and is baptized 

shall be saved, 
but he who will not believe shall 
be condemned. 

17 And for those who believe, these 
miracles will follow : 

they will cast out daemons in 

my name, 
they will talk in foreign tongues, 

18 they will handle serpents, 

and if they drink any deadly 
poison it v/ill not hurt them; 



they will lay hands on the sick 
and make them well." 

Then after speaking to them the 19 
Lord Jesus was taken up to heaven 
and sat down at the right hand of God, 
while they went out and preached 20 
everywhere, the Lord working with 
them and confirming the word by 
the miracles that endorsed it. 

(6) 
But they gave Peter and his com- 
panions a brief account of all that 
had been enjoined. And after 
that, Jesus himself sent out by 
means of them from east to west 
the sacred and imperishable mes- 
sage of eternal salvation. 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 

S. LUKE 



OHAP. 

1 Inasmuch as a number of writers 
have essayed to draw up a narrative 
of the estabhshed facts in our 

2 rehgion exactly as these have been 
handed down to us by the original 
eyewitnesses who were in the 

3 service of the Gospel Message, and 
inasmuch as I have gone carefully 
over them all myself from the very 
beginning, I have decided, O Theo- 
philus, to write them out in order 

4 for your excellency, to let you know 
the solid truth of what you have 
been taught. 

5 In the days of Herod king of 
Judaea there was a priest called 
Zechariah, who belonged to the 
division of Abijah; he had a wife 
who belonged to the daughters of 
Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 

6 They were both just in the sight 
of God, blameless in their obedience 
to all the commands and regula- 

7 tions of God ; but they had no 
child, for Elizabeth was barren. 
Both of them were advanced in 
years. 

8 Now while he was officiating 
before God in the due course of his 

9 division, it fell to him by lot, as 
was the custom of the priesthood, 
to enter the sanctuary of the Lord 

10 and burn incense, the mass of the 
people all remaining in prayer out- 

11 side at the hour of incense. And 
an angel of the Lord appeared to 
him, standing on the right side of 

12 the altar of incense. When Zech- 



ariah saw him he was troubled, 
and fear fell on him ; but the angel 13 
said to him, " Fear not, Zechariah, 
your prayer has been heard; your 
wife Elizabeth will bear a son to 
you, and you must call his name 
John. 

It will be joy and gladness for 14 
you, 
and many will rejoice over his 
birth : 
for he will be great in the sight 15 

of the Lord, 
he will drink neither wine nor 

strong drink, 
he will be filled with the holy 

Spirit from his very birth ; 
he will turn many of the sons 16 
of Israel to the Lord their 
God, 
he will go in front of Him with 17 
the spirit and power of 
Elijah 
to turn the hearts of fathers to 

their children, 
turning the disobedient to the 

wisdom of the just, 
to make a people ready and 
prepared for the Lord." 
Zechariah said to the angel, " But 18 
how am I to be sure of this? I 
am an old man myself, and my 
wife is advanced in years." The 19 
angel replied, " I am Gabriel, I 
stand before God; I have been 
sent to speak to you and to tell you 
this good news. But you will be 20 
silent and unable to speak till the 
day this happens, because you have 

69 



S. LUKE I 



not believed what I told you; it 
will be accomplished, for all that, 
in due time." 

21 Now the people were waiting for 
Zechariah and wondering that he 
stayed so long inside the sanctuary. 

22 When he did come out he could not 
speak to them, so they realized 
that he had seen a vision in the 
sanctuary; he made signs to them 

23 and remained dumb. Then, after 
his term of service had elapsed, he 
went home. 

24 After those days his wife Eliza- 
beth conceived; and for five 
months she concealed herself. 

25 " The Lord has done this for me," 
she said, " he has now deigned 
to remove my reproach among 
men." 

26 In the sixth month the angel 
Gabriel was sent by God to a town 

27 in Galilee, to a maiden who was 
betrothed to a man called Joseph, 
belonging to the house of David. 
The maiden's name was Mary. 

28 The angel went in and said to her, 
" Hail, O favoured one ! the Lord 

29 be with you ! " At this she was 
startled; she thought to herself, 
whatever can this greeting mean? 

80 But the angel said to her, " Fear 
not, Mary, you have found favour 

31 with God. You are to conceive 
and bear a son, and you must call 
his name Jesus. 

32 He will be great, he will be called 

the Son of the Most High, 
and the Lord God will give 
him the throne of David his 
father ; 

33 he will reign over the house of 

Jacob for ever, 
and to his reign there will be 
no end." 

34 " How can this be ? " said Mary 
to the angel, " I have no husband." 

35 The angel answered her, " The holy 

70 



Spirit will come upon you, the 
power of the Most High will over- 
shadow you; thus what is born 
will he called holy. Son of God. 
Look, there is your kinswoman 36 
Elizabeth ! Even she has con- 
ceived a son in her old age, and she 
who was called barren is now in her 
sixth month ; for with God nothing 37 
is ever impossible" Mary said, 38 
" I am here to serve the Lord. Let 
it be as you have said." Then the 
angel went away. 

In those days Mary started with 39 
haste for the hill-country, for a 
town of Judah ; she entered the 40 
house of Zechariah and saluted 
Elizabeth, and when Elizabeth 41 
heard the salutation of Mary the 
babe leapt in her womb. Then 
Elizabeth was filled with the holy 
Spirit; she called out with a loud 42 
cry, 

" Blessed among women are you, 
and blessed is the fruit of your 
womb I 
What have I done to have the 43 
mother of my Lord come to me? 
Why, as soon as the sound of your 44 
salutation reached my ears, the 
babe leapt for joy within my 
womb. And blessed is she who 45 
believed that the Lord's words to 
her would be fulfilled." Then 46 
Mary said 
" My soul magnifies the Lord, 

my spirit has joy in God my 4J7 
Saviour : 

for he has considered the humili- 48 
ation of his servant. 

From this time forth all genera- 
tions will call me blessed, 
for He who is Mighty has done 49 
great things for me. 

His name is holy, 

his mercy is on generation after 50 
generation, 

for those who reverence him. 



S. LUKE II 



51 He has done a deed of might 

with his arm, 
he has scattered the proud with 
their purposes, 

52 princes he has dethroned and the 

poor he has uplifted, 
58 he has satisfied the hungry with 
good things and sent the rich 
away empty, 

54 He has succoured his servant 

Israel, 
mindful of his mercy — 

55 as he promised our fathers, 

to have mercy on Abraham and 
his offspring for ever." 

56 Mary stayed with her about three 
months and then returned home. 

57 Now the time for EHzabeth's 
dehvery had elapsed, and she gave 

58 birth to a son. When her neigh- 
bours and kinsfolk heard of the 
Lord's great mercy to her they re- 

59 joiced with her, and on the eighth 
day came to circumcise the child. 
They were going to call it by the 

60 name of its father Zechariah, but 
the mother told them, " No, the 

61 child is to be called John." They 
said to her, " None of your family is 

62 called by that name." Then they 
made signs to the father, to find out 
what he wanted the child to be 

63 called, and he asked for a writing- 
tablet and wrote down, " His name 
is John," to the astonishment of all. 

64 Instantly his mouth was opened, his 
tongue loosed, and he spoke out 

65 blessing God. Then fear fell on 
all their neighbours, and all these 
events were talked of through the 
whole of the hill-country of Judaea. 

66 All who heard of it bore it in mind ; 
they said, " Whatever will this 
child become ? " For the hand of 
the Lord was indeed with him. 

67 And Zechariah his father was 
filled with the holy Spirit; he 
prophesied in these words, 



*' Blessed be the Lord the God of 68 
Israel, 
for he has cared for his people 
and wrought them redemp- 
tion ; 
he has raised up a strong saviour 69 
for us 
in the house of his servant 
David — 
as he promised of old by the lips 70 
of his prophets — 
to save us from our foes and from 71 
the hand of all who hate us, 
to deal mercifully with our fathers 72 
and to he mindful of his holy 
covenant, 
of the oath he swore to Abraham 73 
our father, 
that freed from fear and from 74 
the hand of our foes 
we should worship him in holi- 75 
ness and uprightness 
all our days within his presence. 
And you, my child, will be called 76 
a prophet of the Most High ; 
for you will go in front of the 
Lord to make his ways ready, 
to bring his people the knowledge 77 
of salvation 
through the remission of their 
sins — 
by the tender mercy of our God, 78 
who will make the Dawn visit 
us from on high, 
to shine on those who sit in dark- 79 
ness and in the shadow of 
death, 
to guide our steps into the way 
of peace." 
And the child grew, he became 80 
strong in the Spirit and remained 
in the desert till the day when he 
made his appearance before Israel. 

CHAP. 

Now in those days an edict was 2 
issued by Caesar Augustus for a 
census of the whole world. (This 2 

71 



S. LUKE 11 



was the first census, and it took 
place when Quirinius was governor 

3 of Syria.) So everyone went to 
be registered, each at his own town, 

4 and as Joseph belonged to the 
house and family of David he went 
up from Galilee to Judaea, from 
the town of Nazaret to David's 

5 town called Bethlehem, to be 
registered along with Mary his wife. 

6 She was pregnant, and while they 
were there the days elapsed for her 

7 delivery ; she gave birth to her 
firstborn son, and as there was no 
room for them inside the khan she 
wrapped him up and laid him in a 

8 stall for cattle. There were some 
shepherds in the district who were 
out in the fields keeping guard over 

9 their flocks by night ; and an angel 
of the Lord flashed upon them, the 
glory of the Lord shone all round 
them. They were terribly afraid, 

10 but the angel said to them, " Have 
no fear. This is good news I am 
bringing you, news of a great joy 
that is meant for all the People. 

11 To-day you have a saviour born 
in the town of David, the Lord 

12 messiah. And here is a proof for 
you : you will find a baby wrapped 
up and lying in a stall for cattle." 

13 Then a host of heaven's army 
suddenly appeared beside the angel 
extolling God and saying, 

14 " Glory to God in high heaven, 

and peace on earth for men whom 
he favours ! " 

15 Now when the angels had left them 
and gone away to heaven, the 
shepherds said to one another, 
" Let us be off to Bethlehem to see 
this thing that the Lord has told 

16 us of." So they made haste and 
discovered Mary and Joseph and 
the baby lying in the stall for cattle. 

17 When they saw this they told 
people about the word which had 

7? 



been spoken to them about the 
child; all who heard it were 18 
astonished at the story of the 
shepherds, and as for Mary, she 19 
treasured it all up and mused upon 
it. Then the shepherds went away 20 
back, glorifying and extolling God 
for all they had heard and seen as 
they had been told they would. 

When the eight days had passed 21 
for his circumcision, he was named 
Jesus — the name given by the 
angel before he had been conceived 
in the womb. 

When the days for their purifica- 22 
tion in terms of the Mosaic law had 
elapsed, they brought him up to 
Jerusalem to present him to the 
Lord (as it is written in the law of 23 
the Lord : every male that opens the 
womb must be considered consecrated 
to the Lord) and also to offer the 24 
sacrifice prescribed in the law of the 
Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two 
young pigeons. Now there was a 25 
man in Jerusalem called Symeon, 
an upright and devout man, who 
was on the outlook for the Con- 
solation of Israel. The holy Spirit 
was upon him ; indeed it had been 26 
revealed to him by the holy Spirit 
that he was not to see death before 
he had seen the Lord messiah. 
By an inspiration of the Spirit he 27 
came to the temple, and when the 
parents of the child Jesus carried 
him in to perform the customary 
regulations of the law for him, 
then Symeon took him in his arms, 28 
blessed God, and said, 
" Now, Master, thou canst let thy 29 
servant go, 
and go in peace, as thou didst 
promise ; 

for mine eyes have seen thy saving 30 
power 

which thou hast prepared before 81 
the face of all the peoples. 



S. LUKE III 



82 to be a light of revelation for the 
Gentiles 
and a glory <othy people Israel." 

33 His father and mother were as- 
tonished at these words about him, 

34 but Symeon blessed them, and to 
his mother Mary he said, *' This 
child is destined for the downfall 
as well as for the rise of many a one 
in Israel ; destined to be a Sign for 
man's attack — to bring out the 

35 secret aims of many a heart. And 
your own soul will be pierced by a 
spear." 

36 There was also a prophetess, 
Hannah the daughter of Phanuel, 
who belonged to the tribe of Asher ; 
she was advanced in years, having 
lived seven years with her husband 

37 after her girlhood and having been 
a widow for eighty-four years. She 
was never away from the temple; 
night and day she worshipped, 

38 fasting and praying. Now at that 
very hour she came up, and she 
offered praise to God and spoke of 
him to all who were on the out- 
look for the redemption of Jeru- 
salem. 

39 When they had finished all the 
regulations of the law of the Lord, 
they returned to Galilee, to their 

40 own town of Nazaret. And the 
child grew and became strong; he 
was filled with wisdom, and the 

41 grace of God was on him. Every 
year his parents used to travel to 
Jerusalem at the passover festival ; 

42 and when he was twelve years old 
they went up as usual to the festi- 

43 val. After spending the full num- 
ber of days they came back, but 
the boy Jesus stayed behind in 
Jerusalem. His parents did not 

44 know of this ; they supposed he 
was in the caravan and travelled 
on for a day, searching for him 
among their kinsfolk and acquaint- 



ances. Then, as they failed to find 45 
him, they came back to Jerusalem 
in search of him. Three days later 4G 
they found him in the temple, 
seated among the teachers, listen- 
ing to them and asking them 
questions, till all his hearers were 47 
amazed at the intelligence of his 
own answers. When his parents 48 
saw him they were astounded, and 
his mother said to him, " My son, 
why have you behaved like this to 
us ? Here have your father and I 
been looking for you anxiously I " 
" Why did you look for me? " he 49 
said, " Did you not know I had to 
be at my Father's house? " But 50 
they did not understand what he 
said. Then he went down along 51 
with them to Nazaret, and did as 
they told him. His mother treas- 
ured up everything in her heart. 
And Jesus increased in wisdom and 52 
in stature, and in favour with God 
and man. 



Now in the fifteenth year of the 3 
reign of Tiberius Caesar, when 
Pontius Pilate was governor of 
Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of 
Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch 
of the country of Ituraea and 
Trachonitis, and Lysias tetrarch 
of Abilene, during the high priest- 2 
hood of Annas and Caiaphas the 
word of God came to John the son 
of Zechariah in the desert; and 
he went into all the Jordan-district 3 
preaching a baptism of repentance 
for the remission of sins — as it is 4 
written in the book of the sayings 
of the prophet Isaiah, 

The voice of one who cries in the 
desert, 

* Make the way ready for the Lord, 

level the paths for him, 

73 



S. LUKE III 



5 Every valley shall be filled up, 

every hill and mound laid low, 
the crooked made straight, 
the rough roads smooth ; 

6 so shall all flesh see the saving 

power of GodJ 

7 To the crowds who came out to get 
baptized by him John said, " You 
brood of vipers, who told you to 
flee from the coming Wrath? 

8 Well, produce fruits that answer 
to your repentance, instead of 
beginning to say to yourselves, 
* We have a father in Abraham.' 
I tell you, God can raise up children 
for Abraham from these stones! 

9 The axe is lying all ready at the 
root of the trees ; any tree that is 
not producing good fruit will be 
cut down and thrown into the 
fu-e." 

10 The crowds asked him, " Then 

11 what are we to do ? " He replied, 
" Let everyone who possesses two 
shirts share with him who has none, 
and let him who has food do like- 

12 wise." Taxgatherers also came to 
get baptized, and they said to him, 
" Teacher, what are we to do ? " 

13 He said to them, " Never exact 

14 more than your fixed rate." Sol- 
diers also asked him, " And what 
are we to do ? " He said to them 
" Never extort money, never lay 
a false charge, but be content with 
your pay." 

15 Now as people's expectations 
were roused and as everybody 
thought to himself about John, 

16 " Can he be the Christ ? " John said 
to them all, 

'* I baptize you with water, 
but after me one who is mightier 

will come, 
and I am not fit to untie the 

string of his sandals ; 
he will baptize you with the holy 
Spirit and fire. 
74 



His winnowing-fan is in his hand 17 
to purge his threshing-floor, 

to gather the wheat into his 
granary 

and burn the straw with fire 
unquenchable." 
Thus with many another appeal he 18 
preached the gospel to the people. 
But Herod the tetrarch, who had 19 
been reproved by him for Herodias 
his brother's wife as well as for 
all the wickedness that he, Herod, 
had committed, crowned all by 20 
shutting John up in prison. 

Now when all the people had 21 
been baptized and when Jesus had 
been baptized and was praying, 
heaven opened and the holy Spirit 22 
descended in bodily form like a 
dove upon him; and a voice came 
from heaven, 

" Thou art my son, the Beloved, 
to-day have I become thy 
father." * 

At the outset Jesus was about 23 
thirty years of age ; he was the son, 
as people supposed, of Joseph, the 
son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the 24 
son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the 
son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 
the son of Mattathias, the son of 25 
Amos, the son of Nahum, the son 
of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son 26 
of Maath, the son of Mattathias, 
the son of Semein, the son of 
Josech, the son of Joda, the son of 27 
Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son 
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, 
the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, 28 
the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, 
the son of Elmadam, the son of 
Er, the son of Jesus, the son of 29 
Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of 
Matthat, the son of Symeon, the 30 

* Reading eyob a-fj/xepov yeyevvrjKci ore, 
with D, the Old Latin, Justin, Clement, 
Tyconius, etc. In the other MSS it has 
been altered, for harmonistio reasons. 



S. LUKE IV 



son of Judas, the son of Joseph, 
the son of Jonam, the son of Elia- 
81 kim, the son of Melea, the son of 
Menna, the son of Mattatha, the 
son of Nathan, the son of David, 

32 the son of Jessai, the son of Jobed, 
the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, 

33 the son of Nahshon, the son of 
Aminadab, the son of Admin, the 
son of Ami, the son of Hezron, the 

34 son of Perez, the son of Judah, the 
son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the 
son of Abraham, the son of Terah, 

35 the son of Nachor, the son of Serug, 
the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the 

36 son of Eber, the son of Sala, the 
son of Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, 
the son of Shem, the son of Noah, 

37 the son of Lamech, the son of 
Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the 
son of Jared, the son of Maleleel, 

38 the son of Kainan, the son of Enos, 
the son of Seth, the son of Adam, 
the son of God. 

CHAP. 

4 From the Jordan Jesus came back 
full of the holy Spirit, and for forty- 
days he was led by the Spirit in 

2 the desert, while the devil tempted 
him. During these days he ate 
nothing, and when they were over 

3 he felt hungry. The devil said to 
him, " If you are God's son, tell 

4 this stone to become a loaf." Jesus 
replied to him, " It is written, Man 

5 is not to live on bread alone. ^^ Then 
he lifted Jesus up and showed him 
all the realms of the universe in a 

6 single instant ; and the devil said 
to him, " I will give you all their 
power and grandeur, for it has 
been made over to me and I can 

7 give it to anyone I choose. If you 
will worship before me, then it will 

8 all be yours." Jesus answered 
him, " It is written. You must 
worship the Lord your God, and serve 



him alone,^^ Then he brought him 9 
to Jerusalem and placing him on 
the pinnacle of the temple said to 
him, " If you are God's son, throw 
yourself down from this; for it is 10 
written. 

He will give his angels charge of 
you, 
and 11 

They will bear you on their hands, 
lest you strike your foot against a 
stone J' 
Jesus answered him, " It has been 12 
said. You shall not tempt the Lord 
your GodJ*^ And after exhaust- 13 
ing every kind of temptation the 
devil left him till a fit opportunity 
arrived. 

Then Jesus came back in the 14 
power of the Spirit to Galilee, and 
the news of him spread over all the 
surrounding country. He taught 15 
in their synagogues and was glori- 
fied by all. Then he came to 16 
Nazaret, where he had been brought 
up, and on the sabbath he entered 
the synagogue as was his custom. 
He stood up to read the lesson and 17 
was handed the book of the prophet 
Isaiah; on opening the book he 
came upon the place where it was 
written, 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon 18 

me : 
for he has consecrated me to preach 

the gospel to the poor, 
he has sent me to proclaim release 
for captives 
and recovery of sight for the 
blind, 
to set free the oppressed, 

to proclaim the Lord^s year of 19 
favour. 
Then, folding up the book, he 20 
handed it back to the attendant and 
sat down. The eyes of all in the 
synagogue were fixed on him, and 21 
he proceeded to tell them that 

75 



S. LUKE V 



" To-day, this scripture is fulfilled 

22 in your hearing." All spoke well 
of him and marvelled at the gracious 
words that came from his lips ; they 
said, " Is this not Joseph's son ? " 

23 So he said to them, " No doubt 
you will repeat to me this proverb, 
* Doctor, cure yourself ! ' * Do here 
in your own country all we have 
heard you did in Capharnahum.' " 

24 He added, " I tell you truly, no 
prophet is ever welcome in his 

25 native place. I tell you for a fact, 

In Israel there were many widows 
during the days of Elijah, 

when the sky was closed for 
three years and six months, 

when a great famine came 
over all the land : 

26 yet Elijah was not sent to any 

of these, 
but only to a widow woman 
at Zarephath in Sidon. 

27 And in Israel there were many 

lepers in the time of the 
prophet Elisha, 
yet none of these was cleansed, 
but only Naaman the Syrian." 

28 When they heard this, all in the 
synagogue were filled with rage; 

29 they rose up, put him out of the 
town, and brought him to the brow 
of the hill on which their town was 
built, in order to hurl him down. 

30 But he made his way through them 
and went off. 

31 Then he went down to Caphar- 
nahum, a town of Galilee, and on 
the sabbath he taught the people; 

32 they were astounded at his teach- 
ing, for his word came with 

83 authority. Now in the synagogue 
there was a man possessed by the 
spirit of an unclean daemon, who 

84 shrieked aloud, " Ha ! Jesus of 
Nazaret, what business have you 
with us ? Have you come to destroy 
us? I know who you are, you 

7|S 



are God's holy One ! " But Jesus 35 
checked it, saying, " Be quiet, come 
out of him." And after throwing 
him down before them the daemon 
did come out of him without doing 
him any harm. Then amazement 36 j 
came over them all; they talked 
it over among themselves, say- 
ing, " What does this mean ? He 
orders the unclean spirits with 
authority and power, and they 
come out ! " And a report of him 37 
spread over all the surrounding 
country. 

When he got up to leave the 38 
synagogue he went to the house of 
Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was 
laid up with a severe attack of 
fever, so they asked him about her ; 
he stood over her and checked the 39 
fever, and it left her. Then she 
instantly got up and ministered 
to them. At sunset all who had 40 
any people ill with any sort of 
disease brought them to him; he 
laid his hands on everyone and 
healed them. From many people 41 
daemons were also driven out, 
clamouring aloud, " You are God's 
son ! " But he checked them and 
refused to let them say anything, 
as they knew he was the Christ. 
When day broke he went away out 42 
to a lonely spot, but the crowds 
made inquiries about him, came 
to where he was, and tried to keep 
him from leaving them. He an- 43 
swered them, " I must preach the 
glad news of the Reign of God to 
the other towns as well, for that is 
what I was sent to do." So he 44 
went preaching through the syna- 
gogues of Judaea. 

CHAP. 

Now as the crowd were pressing 5 
on him to listen to the word of God, 
he saw, as he stood beside the lake % 



S. LUKE V 



of Gennesaret, two boats on the 
shore of the lake; the fishermen 
had disembarked and were washing 

3 their nets. So he entered one of 
the boats, which belonged to Simon, 
and asked him to push out a httle 
from the land. Then he sat down 
and taught the people from the 

4 boat. When he stopped speaking, 
he said to Simon, " Push out to the 
deep water and lower your nets 

5 for a take." Simon replied, " Mas- 
ter, we worked all night and got 
nothing! However, I will lower 

6 the nets at your command." And 
when they did so, they enclosed a 
huge shoal of fish, so that their nets 

7 began to break. Then they made 
signals to their mates in the other 
boat to come and assist them. They 
came and filled both the boats, till 

8 they began to sink. But when 
Simon Peter saw it he fell at the 
knees of Jesus, crying, "Lord, 

9 leave me ; I am a sinful man." For 
amazement had seized him and all 
his companions at the take of fish 

10 they had caught ; as was the case 
with James and John, the sons of 
Zebedaeus, who were partners of 
Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, 
"Have no fear; from now your 

11 catch will be men." Then they 
brought the boats to land, and 
leaving all they followed him. 

12 When he was in one of their 
towns there was a man full of 
leprosy who, on seeing Jesus, fell 
on his face and besought him, " If 
you only choose, sir, you can 

13 cleanse me." So he stretched his 
hand out and touched him, with 
the words, " I do choose, be 
cleansed." And the leprosy at 

14 once left him. Jesus ordered him 
not to say a word to anybody, but 
to "Go off and show yourself to 
the priest, and offer whatever 



Moses prescribed for your cleansing, 
to notify men." But the news of 15 
him spread abroad more and more ; 
large crowds gathered to hear him 
and to be healed of their com- 
plaints, while he kept in lonely 16 
places and prayed. 

One day he was teaching, and 17 
near him sat Pharisees and doctors 
of the Law who had come from 
every village of Galilee and Judaea 
as well as from Jerusalem. Now 
the power of the Lord was present 
for the work of healing. Some men 18 
came up carrying a man who was 
paralysed ; they tried to carry him 
inside and lay him in front of Jesus, 
but when they could not find any 19 
means of getting him in, on account 
of the crowd, they climbed to the 
top of the house and let him down 
through the tiles, mattress and all, 
among the people in front of Jesus. 
When he saw their faith he said, 20 
" Man, your sins are forgiven you." 
Then the scribes and Pharisees 21 
began to argue, " Who is this 
blasphemer ? Who can forgive sins, 
who but God alone? " Conscious 22 
that they were arguing to them- 
selves, Jesus addressed them, say- 
ing, " Why argue in your hearts ? 
Which is the easier thing, to say, 23 
' Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 
* Rise and walk ' ? But to let you 24 
see the Son of man has power on 
earth to forgive sins " — he said to 
the paralysed man, " Rise, I tell 
you, lift your mattress and go 
home." Instantly he got up be- 25 
fore them, lifted what he had been 
lying on, and went home glorifying 
God. And all were seized with 26 
astonishment; they glorified God 
and were filled with awe, saying, 
" W^e have seen incredible things 
to-day." 

On going outside after this he 27 

77 



S. LUKE VI 



noticed a taxgatherer called Levi 
sitting at the tax-office and said 

28 to him, " Follow me " ; he rose, 
left everything and followed him. 

29 Levi held a great banquet for him 
in his house; there was a large 
company present of taxgatherers 
and others who were guests along 

80 with them. But the Pharisees and 
their scribes complained to his dis- 
ciples, " Why do you eat and drink 
with taxgatherers and sinners ? " 

31 Jesus replied to them, 

" Healthy people have no need of 
a doctor, but those who are ill : 

32 I have not come to call just men 

but sinners to repentance." 

33 They said to him, " The disciples 
of John fast frequently and offer 
prayers, as do the disciples of the 
Pharisees; but your adherents eat 

34 and drink." Jesus said to them, 

" Can you make friends at a wed- 
ding fast while the bridegroom 
is beside them ? 

35 A time will come when the bride- 

groom is taken from them, and 
then they will fast at that time." 

36 He also told them a parable : 

" No one tears a piece from a new 
cloak and sews it on an old 
cloak ; 
otherwise he will tear the new 
cloak, 
and the new piece will not 
match with the old. 

37 No one pours fresh wine into old 

wineskins ; 
otherwise the fresh wine will 
burst the wineskins, 
the wine will be spilt and 
the wineskins ruined. 

38 No, fresh wine must be poured 

into new wineskins. 

39 Besides, no one wants new wine 

[immediately] after drink- 
ing old ; 
' The old,' he says, * is better.' " 
78 



cnip. 

One sabbath it happened that 6 
as he was crossing the cornfields 
his disciples pulled some ears of 
corn and ate them, rubbing them 
in their hands. Some of the Phari- 2 
sees said, " Why are you doing 
what is not allowed on the sab- 
bath?" But Jesus answered them 3 
" And have you never read what 
David did when he and his men 
were hungry? He went into the 4 
house of God, took the loaves of the 
Presence and ate them, giving them 
to his men as well — bread that no 
one is allowed to eat except the 
priests." And he said to them, 5 
" The Son of man is lord even over 
the sabbath." 

Another sabbath he happened to 6 
go into the synagogue and teach. 
Now a man was there who had 
his right hand withered, and the 7 
scribes and Pharisees watched to 
see if he would heal on the sabbath, 
so as to discover some charge 
against him. He knew what was 8 
in their minds ; so he told the man 
with the withered hand, " Rise and 
stand forward." He rose and 
stood before them. Then Jesus 9 
said to them, " I ask you, is it 
right on the sabbath to help or to 
hurt, to save life or to kill ? " And 10 
glancing round at them all in anger 
he said to the man, " Stretch out 
your hand." He did so, and his 
hand was quite restored. This 11 
filled them with fury, and they 
discussed what they could do to 
Jesus. 

It was in these days that he went 12 
off to the hillside to pray. He 
spent the whole night in prayer 
to God, and when day broke he 13 
summoned his disciples, choosing 
twelve of them, to whom he gave the 
name of ' apostles ' : Simon (to 14 
whom he gave the name of Peter), 



S. LUKE VI 



Andrew his brother, James, John, 

15 Phihp, Bartholomew, Matthew, 
Thomas, James the son of Al- 
phaeus, Simon (who was called 

16 'the Zealot '), Judas the son of 
James, and Judas Iscariot (who 

17 turned traitor). With them he 
came down the hill and stood on 
a level spot. There was a great 
company of his disciples with him, 
and a large multitude of people 
from all Judaea, from Jerusalem, 
and from the coast of Tyre and 
Sidon, who had come to hear him 
and to get cured of their diseases. 

18 Those who were annoyed with 

19 unclean spirits also were healed. 
Indeed the whole of the crowd 
made efforts to touch him, for 
power issued from him and cured 

20 everybody. Then, raising his eyes 
he looked at his disciples and 
said : 

" Blessed are you poor I 

the Realm of God is yours. 

21 Blessed are you who hunger to- 

day I 

you will be satisfied. 
Blessed are you who weep to- 
day ! 

you will laugh. 

22 Blessed are you when men will 

hate you, 
when they will excommunicate 
you and denounce you 
and defame you as wicked 
on account of the Son of 
man; 

23 rejoice on that day and leap 

for joy I 

rich is your reward in 
heaven — 

for their fathers did the 
very same to the pro- 
phets. 

24 But woe to you rich folk I 

you get all the comforts you 
will ever get. 



Woe to you who have your fill 25 
to-day ! 
you will be hungry. 
Woe to you who laugh to-day 1 

you will wail and weep. 
Woe to you when all men speak 26 
well of you ! 
that is just what their fathers 
did to the false prophets. 
I tell you, my hearers, 27 

love your enemies, do good to 

those who hate you : 
bless those who curse you, 28 
pray for those who abuse 
you. 
If a man strikes you on the 29 
one cheek, 
offer him the other as well : 
if anyone takes your coat, 
do not deny him your shirt 
as well ; 
give to anyone who asks you, 30 
and do not ask your goods 
back from anyone who has 
taken them. 
As you would like men to do 31 
to you, 
so do to them. 
If you love only those who 32 
love you, what credit is 
that to you ? 
Why, even sinful men love 
those who love them. 
If you help only those who 33 
help you, what merit is 
that to you ? 
Why, even sinful men do that. 
If you only lend to those from 34 
whom you hope to get 
something, what credit is 
that to you ? 
Even sinful men lend to one 
another, so as to get a fair 
return. 
No, you must love your ene- 35 

mies and help them, 

you must lend to them without 

expecting any return ; 

79 



S. LUKE VII 



then you will have a rich 

reward, 
you will be sons of the Most 

High- 
for he is kind even to the 

ungrateful and the evil. 

36 Be merciful, 

as your Father is merciful. 

37 Also, judge not, and you will 

not be judged yourselves : 
condemn not, and you will not 

be condemned : 
pardon, and you will be par- 
doned yourselves : 

38 give, and you will have ample 

measure given you — 
they will pour into your lap 
measure pressed down, 
shaken together, and run- 
ning over ; 
for the measure you deal out 
to others will be dealt back 
to yourselves." 

39 He also told them a parabolic 

word : 
" Can one blind man lead an- 
other ? 
will they not both fall into 
a pit? ^ 

40 A scholar is not above his 

teacher : 
but if he is perfectly trained 
he will be like his teacher. 

41 Why do you note the splinter 
in your brother's eye and fail to 
see the plank in your own eye? 

42 How dare you say to your brother, 
' Brother, let me take out the 
splinter that is in your eye,' and 
you never notice the plank in your 
own eye ? You hypocrite ! take 
the plank out of your own eye 
first, and then you will see properly 
to take out the splinter in your 
brother's eye. 

43 No sound tree bears rotten fruit, 

nor again does a rotten tree 
bear sound fruit : 
80 



each tree is known by its 44 
fruit. 
Figs are not gathered from thorns, 
and grapes are not plucked 
from a bramble-bush. 
The good man produces good 45 
from the good stored in his 
heart, 
and the evil man evil from his 

evil : 
for a man's mouth utters what 
his heart is full of. 
Why call me, ' Lord, Lord ! ' 46 
and obey me not ? Everyone who 47 
comes to me and listens to my 
words and acts upon them, I will 
show you whom he is like. He is 48 
like a man engaged in building a 
house, who dug deep down and 
laid his foundation on the rock; 
when a flood came, the river dashed 
against that house but could not 
shake it, for it had been well built. 
He who has listened and has not 49 
obeyed is like a man who has built 
a house on the earth with no 
foundation ; the river dashed 
against it and it collapsed at once, 
and the ruin of that house was 
great." 



When he had finished what he 7 
had to say in the hearing of the 
people, he went into Capharnahum. 

Now there was an army- captain 2 
who had a servant ill whom he 
valued very highly. This man was 
at the point of death ; so, when the 3 
captain heard about Jesus, he sent 
some Jewish elders to him, asking 
him to come and make his servant 
well. When they reached Jesus 4 
they asked him earnestly to do 
this. " He deserves to have this 
favour from you," they said, " for 5 
he is a lover of our nation ; it was 
he who built our synagogue." So 6 



S. LUKE VII 



Jesus went with them. But he 
was not far from the house when 
the captain sent some friends to 
tell him, " Do not trouble yourself, 
sir, I am not fit to have you under 

7 my roof, and so I did not consider 
myself fit even to come to you. 
Just say the word, and let my 

8 servant be cured. For though I 
am a man under authority myself, 
I have soldiers under me; I tell 
one man to go, and he goes, I tell 
another to come, and he conies, 
I tell my servant, ' Do this,' and 

9 he does it." When Jesus heard 
this he marvelled at him, and 
turning to the crowd that followed 
he said, *' I tell you, I have never 
met faith like this anywhere even 

10 in Israel." Then the messengers 
went back to the house and found 
the servant was quite well. 

11 It was shortly afterwards that 
he made his way to a town called 
Nain, accompanied by his disciples 

12 and a large crowd. Just as he was 
near the gate of the town, there 
was a dead man being carried out ; 
he was the only son of his mother, 
and she was a widow. A large 
crowd from the town were with 

13 her. And when the Lord saw her, 
he felt pity for her and said to her, 

14 " Do not weep." Then he went 
forward and touched the bier ; the 
bearers stopped, and he said, 
" Young man, I bid you rise." 

15 Then the corpse sat up and began 
to speak; and Jesus gave him 

16 back to his mother. All were 
seized with awe and glorified God. 
" A great prophet has appeared 
among us," they said, " God has 

17 visited his people." And this story 
of Jesus spread through the whole 
of Judaea and all the surrounding 
country. 

18 John's disciples reported aU this 



to him. So John summoned two 19 
of his disciples and sent them to 
ask the Lord, " Are you the 
Coming One ? Or are we to look 
out for someone else ? " When 20 
the men reached Jesus they said, 
" John the Baptist has sent us to 
you to ask if you are the Coming One 
or if we are to look out for someone 
else ? " Jesus at that moment was 21 
healing many people of diseases 
and complaints and evil spirits ; 
he also bestowed sight on many 
bhnd folk. So he replied, " Go and 22 
report to John what you have seen 
and heard; that the blind see, the 
lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the 
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and 
to the poor the gospel is preached. 
And blessed is he who is repelled 23 
by nothing in me ! " ^Vhen John's 24 
messengers had gone, he proceeded 
to speak to the crowds about John : 
" What did you go out to the 
desert to see ? 
A reed swayed by the vnnd ? 
Come, what did you go out to 25 
see? 
A man arrayed in soft robes ? 
' Those who are gorgeously 
dressed and luxurious live 
in royal palaces. 
Come, what did you go out to 26 
see? A prophet? 
Yes, I tell you, and far more 
than a prophet. 
This is he of whom it is written, 27 
Here I send my messenger before 
your face, 
to prepare the way for you, 
I tell you, among the sons of 28 
women there is none greater than 
John, and yet the least in the Realm 
of God is greater than he is." (On 29 
hearing this all the people and 
the taxgatherers acknowledged the 
justice of God, as they had been 
baptized with the baptism of John ; 

81 



S. LUKE VIII 



30 but the Pharisees and lawyers, who 
had refused his baptism, frustrated 
God's purpose for themselves.) 

31 " To what then shall I compare 

the men of this genera- 
tion ? 
What are they like ? 

32 Like children sitting in the 
marketplace and calling to one 
another, 

' We piped to you and you 
would not dance, 
we lamented and you would 
not weep.' 

33 For John the Baptist has 

come, eating no bread and 
drinking no wine, 
and you say, ' He has a 
devil'; 

34 the Son of man has come 

eating and drinking, 
and you say, * Here is a 
glutton and a drunkard, 
a friend of taxgatherers 
and sinners ! ' 

35 Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindi- 

cated by all her children." 

36 One of the Pharisees asked him 
to dinner, and entering the house 
of the Pharisee he reclined at table. 

37 Now there was a woman in the 
town who was a sinner, and when 
she found out that Jesus was at 
table in the house of the Pharisee 
she brought an alabaster flask of 

38 perfume and stood behind him at 
his feet in tears; her tears began 
to wet his feet, so she wiped them 
with the hair of her head, pressed 
kisses on them, and anointed them 

39 with the perfume. When his host 
the Pharisee noticed this, he said 
to himself, " If he was a prophet 
he would know what sort of a 
woman this is who is touching him ; 

40 for she is a sinner." Then Jesus 
addressed him. " Simon," he said, 
" I have something to say to you." 



" Speak, teacher," he said. " There 41 
was a moneylender who had two 
debtors; one owed him fifty 
pounds, the other five. As they 42 
were unable to pay, he freely for- 
gave them both. Now which of 
them will love him most? " " I 43 
suppose," said Simon, " the man 
who had most forgiven." " Quite 
right," he said. Then turning to 44 
the woman he said to Simon, " You 
see this woman? When I came 
into your house, 

you never gave me water for my 

feet, 
while she has wet my feet 

with her tears and wiped 

them with her hair ; 
you never gave me a kiss, 45 

while ever since she came in 

she has kept pressing kisses 

on my feet ; 
you never anointed my head with 46 

oil, 
while she has anointed my 

feet with perfume. 
Therefore I tell you, many as her 47 
sins are, they are forgiven, for 
her love is great; whereas he to 
whom little is forgiven has but 
little love." And he said to her, 48 
" Your sins are forgiven." His 49 
fellow guests began to say to them- 
selves, " Who is this, to forgive 
even sins ? " But he said to the 50 
woman, " Your faith has saved 
you ; go in peace." 



Shortly afterwards he went 8 
travelling from one town and village 
to another preaching and telling 
the good news of the Reign of God ; 
he was accompanied by the twelve 
and by some women who had been 2 
healed of evil spirits and illnesses, 
Mary called Magdalene (out of 
whom seven daemons had been 



S. LUKE VIII 



8 driven), Joanna the wife of Chuza 
the chancellor of Herod, Susanna, 
and a number of others, who 
ministered to him out of their 

4 means. As a large crowd was 
gathering and as people were re- 
sorting to him from town after 
town, he addressed them in a 

5 parable. " A sower went out to 
sow his seed. And as he sowed, 

some seed fell on the road and 
was trampled down, 
and the wild birds ate it 
up; 

6 some other seed dropped on the 

rock, 
but it withered away when it 
sprang up because it had no 
moisture ; 

7 some other seed fell among 

thorns, 
and the thorns sprang up along 
with it and choked it; 

8 some other seed fell on sound 

soil, 
and springing up bore a crop, 
a hundredfold." 
When he said this he called out, 
" He who has an ear, let him listen 

9 to this." The disciples questioned 
him about the meaning of the 

10 parable ; so he said, " It is granted 
you to understand the open secrets 
of the Reign of God, but the others 
get it in parables, so that 

for all their seeing they may not 

see, 
and for all their hearing they may 

not understand, 

11 This is what the parable means. 

12 The seed is the word of God. Those 
* on the road ' are people who hear; 
but then the devil comes and 
carries off the word from their 
heart, that they may not believe 

13 and be saved. Those ' on the 
rock ' are people who on hearing 
the word welcome it with enthu- 



siasm, but they have no root ; they 
believe for a while and fall away in 
the hour of trial. As for the seed 14 
that fell among thorns, that means 
people who hear but who go and get 
choked with worries and money and 
the pleasures of life, so that they 
never ripen. As for the seed in 15 
the good soil, that means those 
who hear and hold fast the word in 
a good and sound heart and so bear 
fruit stedfastly. 

No one lights a lamp and hides 16 
it under a vessel or puts it 
below the bed : 
he puts it on a stand so that 
those who come in can see 
the light. 
For nothing is hidden that will 17 
not be disclosed, 
nothing concealed that will 
not be known and revealed. 
So take care how you listen ; 18 
for he who has, to him shall 
more be given, 
while as for him who has not, 
from him shall be taken even 
what he thinks he has." 
His mother and brothers reached 19 
him but they were unable to join 
him for the crowd. Word was 20 
brought to him that " your mother 
and brothers are standing outside; 
they wish to see you," But he 21 
answered, "My mother and brothers 
are those who listen to the word of 
God and obey it." 

It happened on one of these days 22 
that he embarked in a boat alone 
with his disciples and said to them, 
" Let us cross to the other side of 
the lake." So they set sail. Dur- 23 
ing the voyage he fell asleep. But 
when a gale of wind came down 
on the lake and they were being 
swamped and in peril, they went 24 
and woke him up. " Master, 
master," they cried, '* we are 

83 



S. LUKE VIII 



drowning ! " So he woke up and 
checked the wind and the surf; 
they ceased and there was a calm. 

25 Then he said to them, " Where is 
your faith? " They marvelled in 
awe, saying to one another, " What- 
ever can he be? He gives orders 
to the very winds and water, and 

26 they obey him ! " They put in 
at the country of the Gerasenes, on 

27 the shore facing Galilee. As he 
stepped out on land he was met by 
a man from the town who had 
daemons in him; for a long while 
he had worn no clothing, and he 
stayed not in a house but among 

28 the tombs. On catching sight of 
Jesus he shrieked aloud and prayed 
him with a loud cry, " Jesus, son of 
God most High, what business have 
you with me ? Do not torture me, 

29 I beg of you." (For he had charged 
the unclean spirit to come out of 
the man. Many a time when it had 
seized hold of him, he had been 
fastened secure in fetters and 
chains, but he would snap his bonds 
and be driven by the daemon into 

30 the desert.) So Jesus asked him, 
" What is your name ? " "Legion," 
he said, for a number of daemons 

31 had entered him. And they begged 
him not to order them off to the 

32 abyss. Now a considerable drove 
of swine was grazing there on the 
hillside, so the daemons begged him 
for leave to enter them. He gave 

33 them leave, and the daemons came 
out of the man and went into the 
swine; the drove rushed down the 
steep slope into the lake and were 

34 suffocated. When the herdsmen 
saw what had occurred they fled 
and reported it to the town and the 

35 hamlets. The people came out to 
see what had occurred and when 
they reached Jesus they discovered 
the man whom the daemons had 

84 



left, seated at the feet of Jesus, 
clothed and sane. That frightened 
them. They got a report from 36 
those who had seen how the lunatic 
was cured, and then all the inhabi- 37 
tants of the surrounding country 
of the Gerasenes asked him to leave 
them, they were so seized with 
terror. He embarked in the boat 
and went back. The man whom 38 
the daemons had left begged that 
he might accompany him. Jesus, 
however, sent him away, sa5ang, 
" Go home and describe all that 39 
God has done for you." So he went 
off to proclaim through the whole 
town all that Jesus had done for 
him. 

On his return Jesus was welcomed 40 
by the crowd ; they were all looking 
out for him. A man called Jairus 41 
came, who was a president of the 
synagogue, and falling at the feet 
of Jesus entreated him to come 
to his house, for he had an only 42 
daughter about twelve years old 
and she was dying. As Jesus went 
the crowds kept crushing him, and 43 
a woman who had had a hemorrhage 
for twelve years * which no one 
could cure, came up behind him and 44 
touched the tassel of his robe. Her 
hemorrhage instantly ceased. Jesus 45 
said, " Who touched me ? " As 
everyone denied it, Peter and his 
companions said, " Master, the 
crowds are all round you pressing 
hard ! " Jesus said, " Somebody did 46 
touch me, for I felt power had passed 
from me." So when the woman saw 47 
she had not escaped notice she 
came trembling, and falling down 
before him she told before all the 
people why she had touched him and 
how she had been instantly cured. 
" Daughter," he said to her, " your 48 

* Omitting tarpons trpoa-avaXaxxaffa ^Xof 
rhv Qlov with BD arm. Syr.Sm. sah. 



S. LUKE IX 



faith has made you well; depart 

49 in peace." He was still speaking 
when someone came from the house 
of the synagogue-president to say, 
" Your daughter is dead. Do not 
trouble the teacher any further." 

50 But when Jesus heard it he said to 
him, " Have no fear, only believe 

51 and she ^vill get well." When he 
reached the house he would not 
allow anyone to come in with him 
except Peter and James and John, 
and the child's father and mother. 

52 Everyone was weeping and bewail- 
ing her, but he said, " Stop weep- 
ing; she is not dead but asleep." 

53 They laughed at him, knowing that 

54 she was dead. But he took her 
hand and called to her, "Rise, little 

55 girl." And her spirit returned, she 
got up instantly, and he ordered 
them to give her something to eat. 

56 Her parents were amazed, but he 
charged them not to tell anyone 
what had happened. 

OHAP. 

9 Calling the twelve together he 
gave them power and authority over 
all daemons as well as to heal 

2 diseases. He sent them out to 
preach the Reign of God and to cure 

3 the sick. And he told them, " Take 
nothing for the journey, neither 
stick nor wallet nor bread nor silver, 

4 and do not carry two shirts. What- 
ever house 3^ou go into, stay there 

5 and leave from there. Whoever 
will not receive you, leave that 
town and shake ofi the very dust 
from your feet as a testimony 

6 against them." So they went out 
from village to village preaching the 
gospel and healing everywhere. 

7 When Herod the tetrarch heard 
all that was going on, he was quite 
at a loss; for some said that John 

8 had risen from the dead, some that 



Elijah had appeared, and others 
that one of the ancient prophets 
had arisen. Herod said, " John I 9 
beheaded. But who is this, of 
whom I hear such tales? " And 
he made efforts to see him. 

Then the apostles came back and 10 
described all they had done to Jesus. 
He took them and retired in private 
to a town called Bethsaida, but the 11 
crowds learned this and followed 
him. He welcomed them, spoke 
to them of the Reign of God, and 
cured those who needed to be 
healed. Now as the day began 12 
to decline the twelve came up to 
him and said, " Send the crowd 
off to lodge in the villages and 
farms around and get provisions 
there, for here we are in a desert 
place." He said to them, " Give 13 
them some food yourselves." 
They said, " We have only got five 
loaves and two fish. Unless — 
are we to go and buy food for the 
whole of this people?" (There 14 
were about five thousand men of 
them.) He said to his disciples, 
*' Make them lie down in rows of 
about fifty." They did so, and made 15 
them all lie down. Then taking the 16 
five loaves and the two fish and 
looking up to heaven he blessed 
them, broke them in pieces and 
handed them to the disciples to set 
before the crowd. And they all 17 
ate and had enough. What they 
had left over was picked up, twelve 
baskets full of fragments. 

Now it happened that while he 18 
was praying by himself his disciples 
were beside him. So he inquired of 
them, " Who do the crowds say I 
am ? " They rephed, " John the 19 
Baptist, though some say EHjah 
and some say that one of the 
ancient prophets has arisen." He 20 
said to them, " And who do you 

85 



S. LUKE IX 



say I am? " Peter replied, " The 

21 Christ of God." Then he forbade 
them strictly to tell this to any- 

22 one. The Son of man, he said, has 
to endure great suffering, to be 
rejected by the elders and high 
priests and scribes, to be killed, 
and on the third day to be raised. 

23 He said to all, " If anyone wishes 
to come after me, let him deny him- 
self, take up his cross day after 
day, and so follow me ; 

24 for whoever wants to save his life 

will lose it, 
and whoever loses his life for my 
sake, he will save it. 

25 What profit will it be for a man to 
gain the whole world and lose or 

26 forfeit himself ? For whoever is 
ashamed of me and my words, of 
him will the Son of man be ashamed 
when he comes in his glory and in 
the glory of the Father and of the 

27 holy angels. I tell you plainly, 
there are some of those standing 
here who will not taste death till 
they see the Reign of God." 

28 It was about eight days after he 
said this, when he took Peter, John, 
and James, and Avent up the hillside 

29 to pray. While he was praying the 
appearance of his face altered and 
his dress turned dazzling white. 

30 There were two men conversing 

31 with him, Moses and Elijah, who 
appeared in a vision of glory and 
said he must go through with his 
death and departure at Jerusalem. 

32 Now Peter and his companions had 
been overpowered with sleep, but 
on waking up they saw his glory 
and the two men who were standing 

83 beside him. When they were part- 
ing from him, Peter said to Jesus, 
" Master, it is a good thing we are 
here ; let us put up three tents, one 
for you, one for Moses, and one for 
Elijah " (not knowing what he was 
86 



saying). As he spoke, a cloud came 84 
and overshadowed them. They 
were awestruck as they passed into 
the cloud, but a voice came from 85 
the cloud, " This is my Son, my 
Chosen one ; listen to him." When 36 
the voice ceased they found them- 
selves alone with Jesus. And in 
those days they kept silence and 
told nobody anything of what they 
had seen. 

Next day when they came down 87 
the hill a large crowd met him. 
" Teacher," shouted a man from 38 
the crowd, " look at my son, I beg 
of you, for he is my only boy, and a 39 
spirit gets hold of him till he sud- 
denly shrieks ; it convulses him till 
he foams ; indeed it will hardly leave 
off tearing him to pieces. I begged 40 
your disciples to cast it out, but 
they could not." Jesus answered, 41 
" O faithless and perverse genera- 
tion, how long must I still be with 
you and bear with you? Fetch 
your son here." Before the boy 42 
could reach Jesus the daemon 
dashed him down and convulsed 
him, but Jesus checked the unclean 
spirit, cured the boy, and handed 
him back to his father. And all 43 
were astounded at this grand display 
of God. But while all marvelled 
at all he did, he said to his disciples, 
" Let these words sink into your 44 
ears : ' the Son of man is to be be- 
trayed into the hands of men.' " 
But they did not understand this 45 
saying — ^indeed it was kept a secret 
from them, to prevent them from 
fathoming it — and they were afraid 
to ask him about this saying. 

A dispute arose among them as 46 
to which of them was the greatest. 
Jesus knew the dispute that occu- 47 
pied their minds, so he took hold 
of a little child and set it by his 
side ; then he said to them, 48 



S. LUKE X 



•* Whoever receives this little 

child in my name receives 

me, 
and whoever receives me 

receives him who sent 

me. 
For it is the lowliest of you 

all who is great." 

49 John said to him, " Master, we 
saw a man casting out daemons in 
your name, but we stopped him 
because he is not a follower of 

50 ours." Jesus said to him, " Do not 
stop him; he who is not against 
you is for you." 

51 As the time for his assumption 
was now due, he set his face for 

52 the journey to Jerusalem. He sent 
messengers in front of him. They 
went and entered a Samaritan 
village to make preparations for 

53 him, but the people would not re- 
ceive him because his face was 
turned in the direction of Jeru- 

54 salem. So when the disciples 
James and John saw this, they 
said, " Lord, will you have us bid 
fire come down from heaven and 

55 consume them ? " But he turned 

56 and checked them. Then they 

57 journeyed to another village. And 
as they journeyed along the road 
a man said to him, " I will follow 

68 you anywhere." Jesus said to 
him, 

" The foxes have their holes, 
the wild birds have their 
nests, 
but the Son of man has 
nowhere to lay his 
head." 

59 He said to another man, " Follow 
me " ; but he said, " Let me go and 

60 bury my father first of all." Jesus 
said to him, " Leave the dead to 
bury their own dead; you go and 
spread the news of the Reign of 

61 God." Another man also said to 



him, " I will follow you, Lord. But 
let me first say good-bye to my 
people at home." Jesus said to 62 
him, " No one is any use to the 
Reign of God who puts his hand to 
the plough and then looks behind 
him." 

CHAP. 

After that the Lord commis- 10 
sioned other seventy disciples, 
sending them in front of him two 
by two to every town and place 
that he intended to visit himself. 
He said to them, " The harvest 2 
is rich, but the labourers are few; 
so pray the Lord of the harvest 
to send labourers to gather his 
harvest. Go your way; I am 3 
sending you out like lambs among 
wolves. Carry no purse, no wallet, 4 
no sandals. Do not stop to salute 
anybody on the road. Whatever 5 
house you enter, first say, ' Peace 
be to this household ! ' Then, if 6 
there is a soul there breathing peace, 
your peace will rest on him ; other- 
wise it will come back to you. 
Stay at the same house, eating 7 
and drinking what the people pro- 
vide (for the workman deserves his 
wages); you are not to shift from 
one house to another. Wherever 8 
you are received on entering any 
town, eat what is provided for you, 
heal those in the town who are ill, 9 
and tell them, ' The Reign of God 
is nearly on you.' But wherever 10 
you are not received on entering 
any town, go out into the streets 
of the town and cry, ' The very dust 11 
of your city that clings to us we 
wipe off from our feet as a protest. 
But mark this, the Reign of God 
is near ! ' I tell you, on the great 12 
Day it will be more bearable for 
Sodom than for that town. Woe 13 
to you, Khorazin I woe to you, 

87 



S. LUKE X 



Bethsaida I Had the miracles per- 
formed in you been performed in 
Tyre and Sidon, they would long 
ago have been sitting penitent in 

14 sackcloth and ashes. But it will 
be more bearable for Tyre and 
Sidon at the judgment than for 

15 you. And you, O Capharnahum I 
Exalted to heaven? No, you will 
sink to Hades ! 

16 He who listens to you listens to 

me, 
he who rejects you rejects 

me, 
and he who rejects me rejects 

him who sent me." 

17 The seventy came back with 
joy. " Lord," they said, " the 
very daemons obey us in your 

18 name." He said to them, " Yes, 
I watched Satan fall from heaven 

19 like a flash of lightning. I have 
indeed given you the power of 
treading on serpents and scorpions 
and of trampling down all the 
power of the Enemy ; nothing shall 

20 injure you. Only, 

do not rejoice because the spirits 
obey you : 
rejoice because your names 
are enrolled in heaven." 

21 He thrilled with joy at that hour 
in the holy Spirit, saying, " I praise 
thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, for concealing this from 
the wise and learned and reveal- 
ing it to the simple-minded; yes. 
Father, I praise thee that such 
was thy chosen purpose." Then 
turning to the disciples he said, 

22 " All has been handed over to me 

by my Father : 
and no one knows who the 

Son is except the Father, 
or who the Father is except 

the Son, 
and he to whom the Son 

chooses to reveal him." 



Then turning to the disciples he 
said privately, 
" Blessed are the eyes that see 23 

what you see ! 
For I tell you many prophets 24 

and kings have desired to 

see what you see, 
but they have not seen it; 
and to hear what you hear, 
but they have not heard 

it." 
Now a law^^er got up to tempt 25 
him. " Teacher," he said, '* what 
am I to do to inherit life eternal ? " 
He said to him, " What is written 26 
in the law? What do you read 
there? " He rephed, " You must 27 
love the Lord your God with your 
whole heart, with your whole soul, 
with your whole strength, and with 
your whole mind. Also your neigh- 
bour as yourself. ^^ " A right an- 28 
swer!" said Jesus; "do that and 
you will live,'' Anxious to make 29 
an excuse for himself, however, 
he said to Jesus, " But who is my 
neighbour? " Jesus rejoined, " A 80 
man going down from Jerusalem 
to Jericho fell among robbers who 
stripped and belaboured him and 
then went off leaving him half-dead. 
Now it so chanced that a priest was 31 
going down the same road, but on 
seeing him he went past on the 
opposite side. So did a Levite 82 
who came to the spot; he went 
and looked at him but he passed 
on the opposite side. However a 33 
Samaritan traveller came to where 
he was and felt pity when he saw 
him; he went to him, bound his 84 
wounds up, pouring oil and wine 
into them, mounted him on his 
own steed, took him to an inn, 
and attended to him. Next morn- B5 
ing he took out a couple of shillings 
and gave them to the innkeeper, 
saying, * Attend to him, and if you 



S. LUKE XI 



are put to any extra expense I 
will refund you on my way back.' 

36 Which of these three men, in your 
opinion, proved a neighbour to 
the man who fell among the rob- 

37 bers? " He said, " The man who 
took pity on him." Jesus said to 
him, " Then go and do the same." 

38 In the course of their journey 
he entered a certain village, and a 
woman called Martha welcomed 

39 him to her house. She had a sister 
called Mary, who seated herself at 
the feet of the Lord to listen to his 

40 talk. Now Martha was so busy 
attending to them that she grew 
worried; she came up and said, 
" Lord, is it all one to you that 
my sister has left me to do all the 
work alone? Come, tell her to 

41 lend me a hand." The Lord an- 
swered her, "Martha, Martha,* 

42 Mary has chosen the best dish, 
and she is not to be dragged away 
from it." 



OHAP. 

11 He was praying at a certain 
place, and when he stopped one 
of his disciples said to him, " Lord, 
teach us to pray, as John taught 

2 his disciples." He said to them, 
" When you pray, say, Father, 

thy name be revered, 
thy Reign begin ; 

3 give us our bread for the mor- 

row day by day, 

4 and forgive us our sins 

for we do forgive everyone 
who has offended us; 
and lead us not into tempta- 
tion." 

♦ Omitting, with D, Syr.sin- and the 
majority of the old Latin manuscripts 
HepifjLy^s . . . XP^*« (^ adding eopv^dCji)' 
I translate fiepiSa by ' dish,' to bring 
out the point and play of the saying. 
Jesus means that Mary has chosen well in 
selecting the nourishment of his teaching. 



And he said to them, " Suppose 5 
one of you has a friend, and you 
go to him at midnight and say to 
him, ' Friend, let me have three 
loaves ; for a friend of mine travel- 6 
ling has come to my house and I 
have nothing to set before him.' 
And suppose he answers from the 7 
inside, ' Don't bother me ; the 
door is locked by this time, and 
my children are in bed with me. 
I can't get up and give you any- 
thing.' I tell you, though he will 8 
not get up and give you anything 
because you are a friend of his, 
he will at least rise and give you 
whatever you want because you 
persist. So I tell you, 9 

ask and the gilt will be yours, 
seek and you will find, 

knock and the door will 
open to you; 
for everyone who asks receives, 10 
the seeker finds, 

the door is opened to anyone 
who knocks. 
What father among you, if asked 11 
by his son for a loaf, will 
hand him a stone ? 
Or, if asked for a fish, will hand 
him a serpent instead of 
a fish? 
Or, if asked for an egg, will he 12 
hand him a scorpion ? 
Well, if for all your evil you 13 
know to give your children 
what is good, 
how much more will your 
Father give the holy 
Spirit from heaven to 
those who ask him ? " 
He was casting out a dumb 14 
daemon, and when the daemon 
had gone out the dumb man spoke. 
The crowds marvelled, but some of 15 
them said, "It is by Beelzebul 
the prince of daemons that he 
casts out daemons." Others by 16 

89 



S. LUKE XI 



way of tempting him demanded 
he should give them a Sign from 

17 heaven. He knew what they were 
thinking about, so he said to them, 

" Any realm divided against it- 
self comes to ruin, 
house after house falls down ; 

18 and if Satan is divided against 

himself, 
how can his realm stand ? 
You say I am casting out 
daemons by Beelzebul ? 

19 If I cast out daemons by Beel- 

zebul, 
by whom do your sons cast 

them out? 
Thus they will be your judges. 

20 But if it is by the finger of God 

that I cast daemons out, 
then the Reign of God has 
reached you already. 

21 When the strong man in armour 
guards his homestead, his property 

22 is undisturbed ; but when a 
stronger man attacks and conquers 
him, he seizes the panoply on which 
he relied and divides up the spoil. 

23 He who is not with me is against 

me, 
and he who does not gather 
with me scatters.* 

24 When an unclean spirit leaves a 
man, it roams through dry places 
in search of refreshment. As it 
finds none, then it says, * I will go 

25 back to the house I left,' and when 
it comes it finds the house clean 

26 and in order. Then it goes off to 
fetch seven other spirits worse than 
itself; they go in and dwell there, 
and the last state of that man is 
worse than the first." 

27 While he was saying this a 
woman shouted to him out of the 
crowd, " Blessed is the womb that 

* Omitting ;*€, which von Soden 
inserts within bracket ifrom i<L 33 and a 
few other authorities. 
90 



bore you, and the breasts you 
sucked I " But he said, " Blessed 28 
rather are those who hear and who 
observe the word of God ! " 

As the crowds were thronging 29 
to him, he proceeded to say, 
" This is an evil generation : it 
demands a Sign, 
but no Sign will be given to 
it except the Sign of 
Jonah ; 
for as Jonah was a Sign to the 30 
Ninivites, 
so shall the Son of man be 
to this generation. 
The queen of the South will 31 
rise at the judgment 
with the men of this 
generation and condemn 
them; 
for she came from the ends 
of the earth to listen to 
the wisdom of Solomon, 
and here is One greater 
than Solomon. 
The men of Ninive will rise at 32 
the judgment with this 
generation and condemn 
it; 
for when Jonah preached 
they did repent, 
and here is One greater 
than Jonah. 
No one lights a lamp to put it 33 
in a cellar or under a 
bowl, 
but on a stand, so that those 
who come in can see the 
Ught. 
Your eye is the lamp of the 34 

body : 
when your eye is sound, 

then the whole of your body 
has light, 
but if your eye is diseased, 

then your body is darkened. 
(Look ! perhaps your very 35 
light is dark.) 



S. LUKE XII 



86 So if your whole body has light, 
without any corner of it in dark- 
ness, it will be lit up entirely, as 
when a lamp lights you with its 
rays." 

87 When he finished speaking a 
Pharisee asked him to take a meal 
in his house ; so he went in and lay 

38 down at table. The Pharisee was 
astonished to see that he had not 

39 washed before the meal, but the 
Lord said to him, 

"You Pharisees do clean the 
outside of the cup and the 
plate, 
but your inner life is filled 
with rapacity and malice. 

40 Foolish men ! did not He who 

made the outside make the 
inside of things too ? 

41 Better cleanse * what is within ; 

then nothing will be un- 
clean for you. 

42 But woe to you Pharisees ! 

you tithe mint and rue and 

every vegetable, 
but justice and the love of 

God you disregard; 
these latter you ought to 

have practised — without 

omitting the former. 

43 Woe to you Pharisees ! 

you love the front bench in 

the synagogues 
and salutations in the 

marketplaces. 

44 Woe to you ! 

you are like unsuspected 
tombs ; 

men walk over them un- 
awares." 

• The ordinary text S6re iXe-nixoffvvnv 
(" give alms ") represents the Aramaic 
zakki. But the Aramaic dakhi (" pm-ify '* 
or ** cleanse ") suits the context better, 
and Wellhausen plausibly suggests that 
Luke has confused " these two verbs 
which difier very little in sound and 
originally are identical.'* 



One of the lawyers said to him, 45 
" Teacher, when you say this you 
are insulting us as well." He 46 
said, 

" And woe to you lawyers I you 
load men with irksome 
burdens, 
and you vnll not put a single 
finger to their burdens. 
Woe to you ! you build tombs 47 
for the prophets whom 
your own fathers killed : 
thus you testify and con- 48 
sent to what your fathers 
did, 
for they killed and you build. 
This is why the Wisdom of God 49 
said, * I will send them prophets 
and apostles, some they will kill 
and some they will persecute ' ; 
it was that the blood of all the 50 
prophets shed from the founda- 
tion of the world might be charged 
upon this generation, from the 51 
blood of Abel down to the blood 
of Zechariah who was slain be- 
tween the altar and the House of 
God — ^yes, I tell you, it will all be 
charged upon this generation. 

Woe to you lawyers ! you 52 
have taken the key that 
unlocks the door of know- 
ledge; 
you have not entered your- 
selves, 
and you have stopped those 
who were entering." 
After he had gone away the scribes 53 
and Pharisees commenced to follow 
him up closely and cross-question 
him on many points, lying in am- 54 
bush to catch a word from his hps. 

OHAP. 

Meanwhile as the crowd was 12 
gathering in its thousands till they 
trod on one another, he proceeded 
to say to his disciples first of all, 

91 



S. LUKE XII 



" Be on your guard against the 
leaven of the Pharisees, which is 
hypocrisy. 

2 Nothing is hidden that will not 

be revealed, 
or concealed that will not be 
made known. 

3 So all you utter in the dark will 

be heard in the light, 
and what you whisper in 
chambers will be proclaimed 
on the housetops. 

4 I tell you, my friends, 

have no fear of those who kill 
the body but after that can 
do no more ; 

5 I will show you whom to fear — 
fear Him who after he has killed 

has power to cast you into 
Gehenna. 
Yes, I tell you, fear Him. 

6 Are not five sparrows sold for 

two farthings ? 
Yet not one of them is for- 
gotten by God. 

7 But the very hairs on your head 

are all numbered; 
fear not, you are worth far 
more * than sparrows. 

8 I tell you, whoever acknow- 

ledges me before men, 
the Son of man will acknow- 
ledge him before the angels 
of God; 

9 and he who disowns me before 

men 
will be disowned before the 
angels of God. 

10 Everyone also who says a word 

against the Son of man will 
be forgiven for it, 
but he who blasphemes against 
the holy Spirit will never be 
forgiven. 

11 When they bring you before 
synagogues and the magistrates and 
authorities, do not trouble your- 

♦ See above, on p. 13. 
92 



selves about how to defend your- 
selves or what to say, for the holy 12 
Spirit will teach you at that hour 
what you should say." 

A man out of the crowd said to 13 
him, " Teacher, tell my brother 
to give me my share of our in- 
heritance " ; but he said to him, 14 
" Man, who made me a judge or 
arbitrator over your affairs ? " 
Then he said to them, " See and 15 
keep clear of covetousness in every 
shape and form, for a man's life is 
not part of his possessions because 
he has ample wealth." And he 16 
told them a parable. " A rich 
man's estate bore heavy crops. 
So he debated, ' What am I to do ? 17 
I have no room to store my crops.' 
And he said, ' This is what I will do. 18 
I will pull down my granaries and 
build larger ones, where I can store 
all my produce and my goods. 
And I will say to my soul, " Soul, 19 
you have ample stores laid up for 
many a year; take your ease, eat, 
drink and be merry." ' But God 20 
said to him, ' Foolish man, this 
very night your soul is wanted; 
and who will get all you have pre- 
pared ? ' So fares the man who 21 
lays up treasure for himself instead 
of gaining the riches of God." To 22 
his disciples he said, " Therefore I 
tell you, 

do not trouble about what you 

are to eat in life, 
nor about what you are to 

put on your body; 
life is something more than 23 

food, 
and the body is something 

more than clothes. 
Look at the crows ! they neither 24 

sow nor reap, 
no storehouse or granary have 

they, 
and yet God feeds them* 



S. LUKE XII 



How much more are you worth 
than birds? 

25 Which of you can add an ell to 

his height by troubling about 
it? 

26 and if you cannot manage even 

this, why trouble over other 
things ? 

27 Look how the liUes neither spin 

nor weave; 
and yet, I tell you, even Solo- 
mon in all his grandeur was 
never robed like one of 
them. 

28 Now if God so clothes grass w^hich 
blooms to-day in the field and is 
thrown to-morrow into the furnace, 
will he not much more clothe you ? 
O men, how little you trust him ! 

29 So do not seek food and drink and 

80 be worried ; pagans make food and 
drink their aim in life, but your 
Father knows quite well you need 

81 that; only seek his Realm, and 
it will be yours over and above. 

32 Fear not, you little flock, for your 
Father is delighted to give you the 
Realm. 
83 Sell what you possess and give it 
away in alms, 
make purses for yourselves 
that never wear out : 
get treasure in heaven that 
never fails, 
that no thief can get at, no 
moth destroy. 

34 For where your treasure lies, 

your heart will lie there too. 

35 Keep your loins girt and your 

36 lamps lit, and be Hke men who 
are expecting their lord and master 
on his return from a marriage- 
banquet, so as to open the door 
for him at once when he comes 

37 and knocks. Blessed are those 
servants whom the lord and master 
finds awake when he comes ! I tell 
you truly, he will gird himself. 



make them recline at table, and 
come forward to wait on them. 
Whether he comes in the second or 38 
the third watch of the night and 
finds them thus alert, blessed are 
they ! Be sure that if the house- 39 
holder had known at what hour 
the thief was coming,* he would 
not have allowed his house to be 
broken into. So be ready your- 40 
selves, for the Son of man is coming 
at an hour you do not expect." 
Peter said, " Lord, are you telling 41 
this parable for us, or is it for all 
and sundry? " The Lord said, 42 
" Well, where is the trust}^ 
thoughtful steward whom the lord 
and master will set over his estab- 
lishment to give out supplies at 
the proper time? Blessed is that 43 
servant if his lord and master finds 
him so doing when he arrives ! I 44 
tell you plainly, he will set him over 
all his property. But if that serv- 45 
ant says to himself, ' My lord and 
master is long of arriving,' and if 
he starts to beat the menservants 
and maidservants, to eat and drink 
and get drunk, that servant's lord 46 
and master will arrive on a day 
when he does not expect him and 
at an hour which he does not know ; 
he will cut him in two and assign 
him the fate of unbelievers. 

The servant who knew his lord 47 

and master's orders and did 

not prepare f for them, 
will receive many lashes; 
whereas he who was ignorant 48 

and did what deserves a 

beating, 
will receive few lashes. 



* Omitting [iypriySpiiffev &v, /col], a 
harmonistic gloss from Matthew xxiv. 43. 

t Omitting ^ -n-oL-ncras with L, the majority 
of the old Latin manuscripts, the Syriao 
and Armenian versions, etc. The ordinary 
text is complete. 

93 



S. LUKE XIII 



He who has much given him 
will have much required from 
him, 
and he who has much entrusted 
to him 
will have all the more de- 
manded of him. 

49 I have come to throw fire on 

earth. 
Would it were kindled already ! 

50 I have a baptism to undergo. 

How I am distressed till it is all 
over ! 

51 You think I am here to make 

peace on earth? 
No, I tell you, it is dissen- 
sion. 

52 After this there will be five at 

issue in one house, 
three divided against two and 
two against three, 

53 father against son and son against 

father, 

mother against daughter and 
daughter against mother, 

mother-in-law against daughter- 
in-law and daughter-in-law 
against mother-in-law" 

54 And to the crowds he said, 

" When you see a cloud rise in 
the west, 
you say, ' There is a shower 
coming,* 
and so it is : 

55 when you feel the south wind 

blow, 
you say, * There will be 
heat,' 
and so it is. 

56 You hypocrites, you know how 

to decipher the look of 
earth and sky ; 
how is it you cannot de- 
cipher the meaning of 
this era ? 

57 And why do you not yourselves 

58 settle what is right ? Thus, when 
you go before the magistrate with 

94 



your opponent, do your utmost to 
get quit of him on the way there, 
in case he hales you before the 
judge; then the judge will hand 
you over to the jailer and the jailer 
will throw you in prison. I tell 59 
you, you will never get out till you 
pay the last farthing of your debt." 

OHAP. 

It was at this time that some 13 
people came to tell him about the 
Galileans whose blood Pilate had 
mingled with their sacrifices. But 2 
he replied to them, 
"Do you think, because they 
suffered this, that these 
Galileans were worse 
sinners than the rest of 
the Galileans? 
I tell you, no ; 3 

unless you repent you will 
all perish as they did. 
Or those eighteen men killed 4 
by the fall of the tower 
at Siloam ? — 
Do you think they were worse 
offenders than the rest 
of the residents in Jeru- 
salem ? 
I tell you, no ; 5 

unless you repent you will 
all perish as they did." 
And he told this parable. " A man 6 
had a fig tree planted in his vine- 
yard ; he came in search of fruit on 
it but he found none. So he said to 7 
the vinedresser, * Here have I come 
for three years in search of fruit on 
this fig tree without finding any; 
cut it down, why should it take up 
space ? ' But the man replied, 8 
' Leave it for this year, sir, till I 
dig round about it and put in 
manure. Then it may bear fruit 9 
next year. If not, you can have 
it cut down.' " 

When he was teaching in one of 10 



S. LUKE XIII 



the synagogues on the sabbath, 

11 there was a woman who for eighteen 
years had suffered weakness from 
an evil spirit ; indeed she was bent 
double and quite imable to raise 

12 herself. Jesus noticed her and 
called to her, " Woman, you are 

13 released from your weakness." He 
laid his hands on her and instantly 
she became erect and glorified God. 

14 But the president of the synagogue 
was annoyed at Jesus healing on 
the sabbath, and he said to the 
crowd, " There are six days for 
work to be done; come during 
them to get healed, instead of on 

15 the sabbath." The Lord replied 
to him, " You hypocrites, does not 
each of you untether his ox or ass 
from the stall on the sabbath and 

16 lead it away to drink ? And this 
woman, a daughter of Abraham, 
bound by Satan for all these 
eighteen years, was she not to be 
freed from her bondage on the 

17 sabbath ? " As he said this all 
his opponents were put to shame, 
but all the crowd rejoiced over 

18 all his splendid doings. So he 
said, 

" What is the Reign of God like ? 
to what shall I compare it ? 

19 It is like a grain of mustard-seed 
which a man took and put into 
his orchard, where it grew up and 
became a tree, and the wild birds 

20 roosted in its branches." He added, 
" To what shall I compare the 

21 Reign of God ? It is Hke dough 
which a woman took and buried 
in three pecks of flour, till all of it 
was leavened." 

22 On he went teaching from one 
town and village to another, as he 

23 made his way to Jerusalem. A 
man said to him, " Is it only a few, 
sir, who are saved ? " So he said 

24 to them, ** Strive to get in through 



the narrow door, for I tell you 

many will try to get in and not be 
able, once the master of the House 25 
has got up and closed the door. 
You may stand outside and knock 
at the door, crying, * Lord, open 
for us,' but he will answer you, * I 
do not know where you come from.' 
You will then proceed to say, ' But 26 
we ate and drank in your presence, 
and you taught in our streets ! ' ' I 27 
tell you,' he will say, * I do not 
know where you come from; be- 
gone every one of you, you evildoers,^ 
There you will wail and gnash 28 
your teeth, to see Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob and all the prophets inside 
the Realm of God and yourselves 
thrown out. Yes, and people will 29 
come from east and west and north 
and south to their places at the 
feast within the Realm of God. 

Some are last who will be first, 30 
and some are first who will be 

last." 
Just then some Pharisees came 31 
up to tell him, " Get away from 
here, for Herod intends to kill 
you." " Go and tell that fox," he 32 
replied, " I cast out daemons and 
perform cures to-day and to- 
morrow, and on the third day I 
complete my task I But I must 33 
journey on, to-day, to-morrow, and 
the next day; it would never do 
for a prophet to perish except in 
Jerusalem ! O Jerusalem, Jem- 34 
salem, slaying the prophets and 
stoning those who have been sent to 
you ! How often I would fain have 
gathered your children as a fowl 
gathers her brood under her wings ! 
But you would not have it ! See, 35 
your House is left to yourselves, I 
tell you, you will never see me till 
the day comes when you say 
Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's 



name. 



95 



S. LUKE XIV 



CHAP. 

14 Now when he entered the house 
of a ruler who belonged to the 
Pharisees to take a meal, they 

2 watched him closely. In front of 
him there was a man who had 

3 dropsy ; so Jesus asked the lawyers 
and Pharisees, "Is it right to heal 

4 on the sabbath or not ? " They 
held their peace. Then Jesus took 
hold of the man and cured him and 

5 sent him off. " Which of you," 
he said to them, " when an ass or 
an ox has fallen into a well, will 
not pull him out at once upon the 

6 sabbath day ? " This they could 

7 not dispute. He also told a parable 
to the guests, when he observed how 
they picked out the best places. 

8 " When anyone invites you to a 
marriage-banquet," he said, " never 
lie down in the best place, in case 
a more distinguished guest than 

9 yourself has been invited ; then 
the host will tell you, ' Make room 
for him,' and you will proceed in 
shame to take the lowest place. 

10 No, when you are invited, go and 
recline in the lowest place, so that 
when your host comes in he will 
tell you, ' Move higher up, my 
friend.' Then you will be honoured 
before your fellow guests. 

11 For everyone who uplifts him- 

self will be humbled, 
and he who humbles himself 
will be upHfted." 

12 He also said to his host, " When 
you give a dinner or supper, do not 
ask your friends or your brothers or 
your relatives or your rich neigh- 
bours, in case they invite you back 

13 again and you get repaid. No, 
when you give a banquet, invite the 
poor, the maimed, the lame, and 

14 the blind. Then you will be 
blessed ; for as they have no means 
of repaying you, you will be re- 
paid at the resurrection of the 

96 



just." Hearing this, one of his 15 
fellow guests said to him, " Blessed 
is he who feasts in the Realm of 
God ! " Jesus said to him, " There }6 
was a man who was giving a large 
supper, to which he had invited a 
number of guests. At the hour 17 
for supper he sent his servant to 
tell the guests, ' Come, things are 
all ready.' But they all alike pro- 18 
ceeded to decline. The first said 
to him, ' I have bought a farm and 
I am obliged to go and look at it. 
Pray consider me excused.' The 19 
second said, ' I have bought five 
pair of oxen and I am going to try 
them. Pray consider me excused.' 
Another said, ' I have married a 20 
wife ; that is why I cannot come.' 
The servant went and reported this 21 
to his master. Then the master of 
the house was enraged, and said to 
his servant, ' Quick, go out to the 
streets and lanes of the town and 
bring in the poor, the maimed, the 
blind, and the lame.' When the 22 
servant announced, ' Your order 
has been carried out, sir, but there 
is still room,' the master said to the 23 
servant, ' Go out to the roads and 
hedges and make people come 
in, to fill up my house. For 24 
I tell you that not one of those 
who were invited shall taste my 
supper.' " 

There were large crowds travel- 25 
ling with him; so he turned and 
said to them, 

" If anyone comes to me and 26 
does not hate his father and mother 
and wife and children and brothers 
and sisters, aye and his own life, 
he cannot be a disciple of 
mine; 

whoever does not carry his own 27 
cross and come after me, 
he cannot be a disciple of - 
mine. 



S. LUKE XV 



28 For which of you wants to build 
a tower and does not first sit down 
to calculate the expense, to see if 
he has enough money to complete 

29 it ? — in case, after he has laid the 
foundation and then is unable to 
finish the building, all the spec- 
tators start to make fun of him, 

30 saying, * This fellow started to build 

31 but he could not finish it.' Or 
what king sets out to fight against 
another king without first sitting 
down to deliberate whether with 
ten thousand men he can encounter 
the king who is attacking him with 

32 twenty thousand ? If he cannot, 
when the other is still at a distance 
he will send an embassy to do 
homage to him. 

33 So with everyone of j^ou who will 

not part with all his goods — 
he cannot be a disciple of 
mine. 

34 Salt is excellent indeed : but if 
salt becomes insipid, what will 

35 restore its flavour? It is no use 
for either soil or dunghill, it is flung 
out. He who has an ear let him 
listen to this." 



15 Now the taxgatherers and sinners 
were all approaching him to listen 

2 to him, but the Pharisees and the 
scribes complained, " He welcomes 
sinners and eats along with them ! " 

3 So he told them this parable : 

4 " Which of you with a hundred 
sheep, if he loses one, does not 
leave the ninety-nine in the desert 
and go after the lost one till he 

5 finds it? When he finds it he 
puts it on his shoulders with joy, 

6 and when he gets home he gathers 
his friends and neighbours : 'Re- 
joice with me,' he says to them, 
*for I have found the sheep I 

7 lost.' So, I tell you, there will be 



joy in heaven over a single sinner 
who repents more than over ninety- 
nine good people who do not need 
to repent. Or again, suppose a 8 
woman has ten shillings. If she 
loses one of them, does she not 
light a lamp and scour the house 
and search carefully till she finds 
it? And when she finds it she 9 
gathers her women-friends and 
neighbours, saying, ' Rejoice with 
me, for I have found the shilling 
I lost.' So, I tell you, there is 10 
joy in the presence of the angels 
of God over a single sinner who 
repents." 

He also said : " There was all 
man who had two sons, and the 12 
younger said to his father, ' Father, 
give me the share of the property 
that falls to me.' So he divided 
his means among them. Not 13 
many days later the younger son 
sold off everything and went abroad 
to a distant land, where he squan- 
dered his means in loose living. 
After he had spent his all, a severe 14 
famine set in throughout that land, 
and he began to feel in want ; so 15 
he went and attached himself to a 
citizen of that land, who sent him 
to his fields to feed swine. And 16 
he was fain to fill his belly with 
the pods the swine were eating; 
no one gave him anything. But 17 
when he came to his senses he 
said, ' How many hired men of 
my father have more than enough 
to eat, and here am I perishing of 
hunger ! I will be up and off to 18 
my father, and I will say to him, 
" Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before you ; I don't 19 
deserve to be called your son any 
more; only make me like one of 
your hired men." ' So he got up 20 
and went off to his father. But 
when he was still far away his 

^7 



S. LUKE XVI 



father saw him and felt pity for him 
and ran to fall upon his neck and 

21 kiss him. The son said to him, 
* Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before you; I don't 
deserve to be called your son any 

22 more.' But the father said to his 
servants, * Quick, bring the best 
robe and put it on him, give him a 
ring for his hand and sandals for 

23 his feet, and bring the fatted calf, 
kill it, and let us eat and be merry ; 

24 for my son here was dead and he 
has come to life, he was lost and he 
is found.* So they began to make 

25 merry. Now his elder son was out 
in the field, and as he came near the 
house he heard music and dancing ; 

26 so, summoning one of the servants, 

27 he asked what this meant. The 
servant told him, ' Your brother 
has arrived, and your father has 
killed the fatted calf because he has 
got him back safe and sound.' 

28 This angered liim, and he would not 
go in. His father came out and 

29 tried to appease him, but he re- 
plied, ' Look at all the years I 
have been serving you! I have 
never neglected any of your orders, 
and yet you have never given me 
so much as a kid, to let me make 

80 merry with my friends. But as 
soon as this son of yours arrives, 
after having wasted your means 
with harlots, you kill the fatted 

31 calf for him ! ' The father said to 
him, * My son, you and I are always 

32 together, all I have is yours. We 
could not but make merry and 
rejoice, for your brother here 
was dead and has come to hfe 
again, he was lost but he has been 
found.' " 

CHAP. 

16 He also said to the disciples : 
*' There was a rich man who had 
98 



a factor, and this factor, he found, 
was accused of misapplying his 
property. So he summoned him 2 
and said, ' What is this I hear 
about you? Hand in your ac- 
counts; you cannot be factor any 
longer.' The factor said to himself, 3 

* What am I to do now that my 
master is taking the factorship 
away from me? I am too weak 
to dig, I am ashamed to beg. Ah, 4 
I know what I will do, so that 
people \vill welcome me to their 
houses when I am deposed from 
the factorship.' So he summoned 5 
every single one of his master's 
debtors. He asked the first, * How 
much are you owing to my master ? ' 

* A hundred barrels of oil.' he said. 6 
The factor told him, ' Here is your 
bill; sit down at once and enter 
fifty barrels.' Then he asked 7 
another, ' And how much do you 
owe ? ' 'A hundred quarters of 
wheat,' he said. ' Here is your 
bill,' said the factor, ' just enter 
eighty.' Well, the master praised 8 
the dishonest factor for looking 
ahead; for the children of this 
world look further ahead in deahng 
with their own generation than 
the children of Light. And I tell 9 
you, use mammon, dishonest as 

it is, to make friends for your- 
selves, so that when you die * they 
may welcome you to the eternal 
abodes. 

He who is faithful with a trifle 10 
is also faithful with a large 
trust, 
and he who is dishonest with 
a trifle is also dishonest with 
a large trust. 
So if you are not faithful with 11 
dishonest mammon, 

* Reading iKKl-rrriTe or ^KAe/WrjTe with &?«», 
the bulk of the Latin manuscripts, the 
Harklean Syriac, etc. 



S. LUKE XVII 



how can you ever be trusted 
with true Riches ? 

12 And if you are not faithful with 

what belongs to another, 
how can you ever be given 
what is your own ? 

13 No servant can serve two 

masters : 
either he will hate the one and 

love the other, 
or else he will stand by the one 

and despise the other — 
you cannot serve both God and 

Mammon." 

14 Now the Pharisees who were 
fond of money heard all this, and 

15 they sneered at him. So he told 
them, " You are the people who 
get men to think you are good, 
but God knows what your hearts 
are ! What is lofty in the view of 

I man is loathsome in the eyes of 
God. 

16 The Law and the prophets lasted 
till John ; since then the good news 
of the Realm of God is preached, 

17 and anyone presses in. Yet it is 
easier for heaven and earth to pass 
away than for an iota of the Law 
to lapse. 

18 Anyone who divorces his wife 

and marries another woman 
commits adultery, 
and he who marries a divorced 
woman commits adultery. 

19 There was a rich man, clad in 
purple and fine linen, who lived 

20 sumptuously every day. Outside 
his door lay a poor man called 
Lazarus; he was a mass of ulcers, 

21 and fain to eat up the crumbs that 
fell from the rich man's table. 
(The very dogs used to come and 

22 lick his ulcers.) Now it happened 
that the poor man died, and he was 
carried by the angels to Abraham's 
bosom. The rich man died too, 

28 and was buried. And as he was 



being tortured in Hades he raised 
his eyes and saw Abraham far away 
with Lazarus in his bosom ; so he 24 
called out, ' Father Abraham, take 
pity on me, send Lazarus to dip his 
fingertip in water and cool my 
tongue, for I am in anguish in these 
flames.' But Abraham said, ' Re- 25 
member, my son, you got all the 
bliss when you were alive, just as 
Lazarus got the ills of life; he is 
in comfort now, and you are in 
anguish. Besides all that, a great 26 
gulf yawns between us and you, to 
keep back those who want to cross 
from us to you and also those who 
want to pass from you to us.' Then 27 
he said, ' Well, father, I beg you to 
send him to my father's house, for 28 
I have five brothers; let him bear 
testimony to them, that they may 
not come to this place of torture as 
well.' * They have got Moses and 29 
the prophets,' said Abraham, * they 
can listen to them.' ' No, father 30 
Abraham,' he said, ' but if someone 
only goes to them from the dead, 
they will repent.' He said to him, 31 
' If they will not listen to Moses 
and the prophets, they will not be 
convinced, not even if one rose 
from the dead." 



To his disciples he said, ** It is 17 
inevitable that hindrances should 
come, but woe to the man by whom 
they come; it would be well for 2 
him to have a millstone hung round 
his neck and be flung into the sea, 
rather than prove a hindrance to 
one of these little ones 1 Take heed 3 
to yourselves. If your brother sins, 
check him, and if he repents forgive 
him. Even if he sins against you 4 
seven times in one day and turns 
to you seven times saying, * I re- 
pent,' you must forgive him." The 5 

99 



S. LUKE XVII 



apostles said to the Lord, " Give 

6 us more faith ! " The Lord said, 
" If you had faith the size of a 
grain of mustard-seed, you would 
say to this mulberry tree, ' Be up- 
rooted and planted in the sea,' and 

7 it would obey you. Which of 
you, with a servant out plough- 
ing or shepherding, will say to him 
when he comes in from the field, 
' Come at once and take your place 

8 at table ' ? Will the man not 
, rather say to him, ' Get something 

ready for my supper ; gird yourself 
and wait on me till I eat and drink ; 
then you can eat and drink your- 

9 self ' ? Does he thank the servant 

10 for doing his bidding ? Well, it is 
the same with you ; when you have 
done all you are bidden say, ' We 
are but servants ; * we have only 
done our duty.' " 

11 Now it happened in the course of 
his journey to Jerusalem that he 
passed between Samaria and Gali- 

12 lee. On entering one village he was 
met by ten lepers who stood at a 

13 distance and lifted up their voice, 
saying, " Jesus, master, have pity 

14 on us." Noticing them he said, 
" Go and show yourselves to the 
priests." And as they went away 

15 they were cleansed. Now one of 
them turned back when he saw he 
was cured, glorif5dng God with a 

16 loud voice; and he fell on his face 
at the feet of Jesus and thanked 
him. The man was a Samaritan. 

17 So Jesus said, " Were all the ten not 
cleansed? Where are the other 

18 nine ? Was there no one to return 
and give glory to God except this 

19 foreigner? " And he said to him, 

* Omitting i.xp^'^oi with Syr.sia. fol- 
lowed by most recent editors. The 
emphasis falls on the simple fact of being 
slaves, not on any distinction between 
good and bad slaves. 
100 



"Get up and go, your faith has 
made you well." 

On being asked by the Pharisees 20 
when the Reign of God was com- 
ing, he answered them, " The 
Reign of God is not coming as you 
hope to catch sight of it ; no one 21 
will say, ' Here it is ' or ' There it 
is,' for the Reign of God is now in 
your midst." To his disciples he 22 
said, " There will come days when 
you will long and long in vain to 
have even one day of the Son of 
man. Men will say, ' See, here he 23 
is ! * ' See, there he is ! ' but 
do not go out or run after 
them, 

for like lightning that flashes 24 
from one side of the sky to 
the other, 
so will the Son of man be on 
his own day. 
But he must first endure great 25 
suffering and be rejected by the 
present generation. And just as it 26 
was in the days of Noah, so will it 
be in the days of the Son of man; 
they were eating, drinking, marry- 27 
ing and being married, till the day 
Noah entered the ark — then camq 
the deluge and destroyed them all. 
Or just as it was in the days of Lot ; 28 
they were eating, drinking, buying, 
selling, planting and building, but on 29 
the day that Lot left Sodom it rained 
fire and brimstone from heaven and 
destroyed them all. So will it be on 30 
the day the Son of man is revealed. 
On that day, if a man is on the 31 
housetop and his goods inside the 
house, he must not go down to fetch 
them out; nor must a man in the 
field turn hack (remember Lot's 32 
wife). 

Whoever tries to secure his life 83 
wiU lose it, 

and whoever loses it will preserve 
it. 



S. LUKE XVIII 



34 On that night, I tell you, 

there will be two men in the one 
bed, 
the one will be taken and the 
other left ; 

35 two women will be grinding to- 

gether, 
the one will be taken and the 
other left." 
37 They asked him, "Where, Lord?" 
And he said to them, 
" Where the body is lying, 

there the vultures will 
gather." 

CHAP. 

18 He also told them a parable 
about the need of always praying 

2 and never losing heart. '* In a 
certain town," he said, " there was 
a judge who had no reverence for 
God and no respect even for man. 

3 And in that town there was a widow 
who used to go and appeal to him 
for ' Justice against my opponent ! ' 

4 For a while he would not, but after- 
wards he said to himself, ' Though 
I have no reverence for God and no 

5 respect even for man, still, as this 
widow is bothering me, I will see 
justice done to her — ^not to have 
her for ever coming and pestering 

6 me.' Listen," said the Lord, '' to 

7 what this unjust judge says I And 
will not God see justice done to his 
elect who cry to him by day and 
night ? Will he be tolerant to their 

8 opponents ? I tell you, he will 
quickly see justice done to his elect ! 
And yet, when the Son of man 
does come, will he fmd faith on 
earth ? " 

9 He also told the following parable 
to certain persons who were sure of 
their own goodness and looked down 

10 upon everybody else. " Two men 
went up to pray in the temple ; one 
was a Pharisee and the other was a 



taxgatherer. The Pharisee stood 11 
up and prayed by himself as follows ; 
' I thank thee, O God, I am not like 
the rest of men, thieves, rogues, 
and immoral, or even like yon tax- 
gatherer. Twice a week I fast; 12 
on all my income I pay tithes.' 
But the taxgatherer stood far away 13 
and would not lift even his eyes to 
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 
* O God, have mercy on me for my 
sins ! ' I tell you, he went home 14 
accepted by God rather than the 
other man ; 

for everyone who uplifts himself 
will be humbled, 
and he who humbles himself 
will be uplifted." 

Now people even brought their 15 
infants for him to touch them; 
when the disciples noticed it they 
checked them, but Jesus called for 16 
the infants. " Let the children 
come to me," he said, " do not stop 
them : the Realm of God belongs 
to such as these. I tell you truly, 17 
whoever will not submit to the 
Reign of God like a child will never 
get into it at all." 

Then a ruler asked him, " Good 18 
teacher, what am I to do to inherit 
life eternal ? " Jesus said to him, 19 
" Why call me ' good ' ? No one is 
good, no one but God. You know 20 
the commands : do not commit 
adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do 
not bear false witness, honour your 
father and mother." He said, " I 21 
have observed all these commands 
from my youth." When Jesus 22 
heard this he said to him, " You 
lack one thing more; sell all you 
have, distribute the money among 
the poor and you will have treasure 
in heaven; then come and follow 
me." But when he heard that he 23 
was vexed, for he was extremely 
rich. So Jesus looked at him and 24 

101 



S. LUKE XIX 



said, " How difficult it is for those 
who have money to enter the Realm 

25 of God I Why, it is easier for a 
camel to get through a needle's eye 
than for a rich man to get into the 

26 Realm of God." His hearers said, 
" Then whoever can be saved ? " 

27 He said, " What is impossible for 
men is possible for God." Peter 

28 said, " Well, we have left our homes 
and followed you ! " He said to 

29 them, " I tell you truly, no one has 
left home or wife or brothers or 
parents or children for the sake of 

30 the Realm of God, who does not 
receive ever so much more in this 
present world, and in the world to 

31 come life eternal." Then he took 
the twelve aside and told them, 
" We are going up to Jerusalem, 
and all the predictions of the 
prophets regarding the Son of man 

32 will be fulfilled ; he will be 
betrayed to the Gentiles, mocked, 

33 illtreated, and spat on ; they will 
scourge him and kill him, but he will 
rise again on the third day." 

34 However, they did not under- 
stand a word of this; indeed the 
saying was hidden from them, 
and they did not know what he 
meant. 

35 As he approached Jericho, it 
chanced that a blind man was seated 

36 beside the road begging. When 
he heard the crowd passing he in- 

37 quired what was the matter, and 
they told him that Jesus the 

38 Nazarene was going by. So he 
shouted, " Jesus, Son of David, 

39 have pity on me ! " The people 
in front checked him and told him 
to be quiet, but he shouted all the 
more, " Son of David, have pity on 

40 me ! " So Jesus stopped and or- 
dered them to bring him, and asked 

41 him when he approached, " What 
do you want me to do for you ? " 

102 



" Lord," he said, " I want to regain 
my sight." And Jesus said to him, 42 
" Regain your sight, your faith has 
made you well." Instantly he 43 
regained his sight and followed him, 
glorifying God. And all the people 
gave praise to God when they saw 
this. 



CHAP. 

Then he entered Jericho. And 19 
as he passed through it, there was a 2 
man called Zacchaeus, the head of 
the taxgatherers, a wealthy man, 
who tried to see what Jesus was 3 
like ; but he could not, on account of 
the crowd — for he was small of 
stature. So he ran forward and 4 
climbed into a sycomore tree to get 
a sight of him, as he was to pass 
that road. But when Jesus reached 5 
the spot he looked up and said to 
him, " Zacchaeus, come down at 
once, for I must stay at your house 
to-day." He came down at once 6 
and welcomed him gladly. But 7 
when they saw this, everyone began 
to mutter that he had gone to be 
the guest of a sinner. So Zacchaeus 8 
stopped and said to the Lord, " I 
will give the half of all I have. Lord, 
to the poor, and if I have cheated 
anybody I will give him back four 
times as much." And Jesus said 
of him, " To-day salvation has come 
to this house, since Zacchaeus here 
is a son of Abraham. For the Son 10 
of man has come to seek and save 
the lost." He went on to tell a 11 
parable in their hearing, as he was 
approaching Jerusalem and as they 
imagined God's Reign would in- 
stantly come into view. " A noble- 12 
man,'" he said, " went abroad to 
obtain royal power for himself and 
then return. He first called his 13 
ten servants, giving them each a 
five-pound note, and telling them, 



9 



S. LUKE XIX 



' Trade with this till I come back.' 

14 Now his people hated him and sent 
envoys after him to say, * We object 
to him having royal power over us.' 

15 However he secured the royal power 
and came home. Then he ordered 
the servants to be called who had 
been given the money, that he might 
find out what business they had 

16 done. The first came up saying, 
' Your five pounds has made 

17 other fifty, sir.' ' Capital,* he 
said, ' you excellent servant ! be- 
cause you have proved trustworthy 
in a trifle, you are placed over 

18 ten towns.' Then the second came 
and said, ' Your five pounds has 

19 made twenty-five, sir.' To him 
he said, ' And you are set over 

20 five towns.' Then the next came 
and said, ' Here is your five 
pounds, sir; I kept it safe in 

21 a napkin, for I was afraid of 
you, you are such a hard man — 
picking up what you never put 
down, and reaping what you 
never sowed.' He replied, ' You 

22 rascal of a servant, I will con- 
vict you by what you have said 
yourself. You knew, did you, 
that I was a hard man, picking up 
what I never put down, and reap- 

23 ing what I never sowed ! Wh}^ then 
did you not put my money into 
the bank, so that I could have 
got it with interest when I came 

24 back ? ' Then he said to the by- 
standers, ' Take the five pounds 
from him and give it to the man 

25 with fifty.' * Sir,' they said, ' he 

26 has fifty already ! ' 'I tell you, 

to everyone who has shall more 
be given, 
but from him who has nothing, 
even what he has shall be 
taken. 

27 And now for these enemies of mine 
who objected to me reigning over 



them — bring them here and slay 
them in my presence.' " 

With these words he went forward 28 
on his way up to Jerusalem. When 29 
he was near Bethphage and Bethany 
at the hill called the Olive-Orchard, 
he despatched two of his disciples, 
saying, " Go to the village in front, 30 
and on entering it you will find a 
colt tethered on which no one ever 
has sat; untether it and bring 
it. If anyone asks you, * Why are 31 
you untethering it? ' this is what 
you will say, ' The Lord needs it.' " 
The messengers went off and found 32 
the colt exactly as he had told them. 
As they were untethering it, the 33 
owners said to them, " Why are 
you untethering the colt ? " And 34 
they said, " Because the Lord needs 
it." So they brought it to Jesus, 35 
and thro^dng their clothes on the 
colt they mounted Jesus upon it. 
As he went forward they spread 36 
their clothes under him on the 
road, and as he was now close to 37 
the descent from the Hill of Olives 
all the multitude of the disciples 
started joyfully to praise God with 
a loud voice for all * they had 
seen, saying, 88 

" Blessed be the king who comes in 
the Lord's name ! 

Peace in heaven and glory in the 
High places ! " 

Some Pharisees in the crowd said 39 
to him, " Check your disciples, 
teacher." But he replied, " I tell 40 
you, if they were to keep quiet, 
the very stones would shout." 
And when he saw the city, as he 41 
approached, he wept over it, saying, 42 
" Would that you too knew even to- 
day on what your peace depends ! 
But no, it is hidden from you ! A 43 

* Omitting Swdfiewv with the old 
Syriao version, which preserves the ori- 
g;inal text -jrfpi ■na.vrwv tlhov Keyovr^s. 

103 



S. LUKE XX 



time is coming for you when your 
enemies will throw up ramparts 
round you and encircle you and 

44 besiege you on every side and 
raze you and your children within 
you to the ground, leaving not 
one stone upon another within 
you — and all because you would 
not understand when God was 

45 visiting you." Then he went into 
the temple and proceeded to drive 

46 out those who were selling. " It 
is written," he told them, " my 
house shall he a house of prayer, but 
you have made it a den of robbers,''^ 

47 Day after day he taught within 
the temple. The high priests and 
scribes tried to have him put to 
death, and so did the leaders of the 

48 people, but they could not discover 
what was to be done, for the w^hole 
of the people hung upon his lips. 

CHAP. 

20 One day, when he was teaching 
the people in the temple and preach- 
ing the gospel, up came the priests 
and scribes along with the elders. 

2 " Tell us," they said, " what 
authority you have for acting in 
this way ? Who was it that gave 

3 you this authority ? " He ansv^rered 
them, " Weil, I will ask you a ques- 

4 tion. Tell me, did the baptism of 
John come from heaven or from 

5 men ? " Now they reasoned to them- 
selves, " If we say, ' From heaven,* 
he will ask, ' Why did you not be- 

6 lieve him ? ' And if we say, ' From 
men,' the whole of the people will 
stone us, for they are convinced 

7 John was a prophet." So they 
answered that they did not know 

8 where it came from. Jesus said 
to them, " No more will I tell you 
what authority I have for acting 
as I do." 

9 Then he proceeded to tell the 
104 



people the following parable. ** A 
man planted a vineyard, leased it 
to vinedressers, and went abroad 
for some time. When the season 
came round he sent a servant to 
the vinedressers to receive part 
of the produce of the vineyard, 
but the vinedressers flogged him 
and sent him off with nothing. He 
proceeded to send another servant, 
and they flogged him too, insulted 
him and sent him off with nothing. 
Then he sent still a third, but this 
one they wounded and threw out- 
side. Said the owner of the vine- 
yard, 'W^hat shall I do ? I will 
send my beloved son; perhaps 
they will respect him.' But when 
the vinedressers saw him, they 
argued to themselves, ' Here is the 
heir, let us kill him so that the 
inheritance may be ours.' And they 
threw him outside the vineyard 
and killed him. Now what will 
the owner of the vineyard do to 
them ? He will come and kill these 
vinedressers and give the vineyard 
to others." When they heard that 
they said, " God forbid ! " But 
he looked at them and said, " Then 
what does this scripture mean ? — 

The stone that the builders rejected 
is the chief stone now of the 
corner. 

Everyone who falls on that stone 
will be shattered, 
and whoever it falls upon will 
be crushed." 

At that hour the scribes and high 
priests tried to lay hands on him, 
but they were afraid of the people. 
They knew he had meant this 
parable for them. So watching 
their chance they sent spies who 
pretended to be honest persons in 
order to seize on what he said and 
get him handed over to the authority 
and jurisdiction of the governor. 



10 



11 

12 
13 

14 
15 

16 

17 






18 



19 



20 



S. LUKE XXI 



21 They put this question to him, 
" Teacher, we know you are straight 
in what you say and teach, you do 
not look to human favour but teach 

22 the Way of God honestly. Is it 
right for us to pay tribute to Caesar 

23 or not ? " But he noted their 

24 knavery and said to them, " Show 
me a shilling. Whose likeness 
and inscription does it bear ? " 

25 " Caesar's," they repHed. " Well 
then," he said to them, "give Caesar 
what belongs to Caesar, give God 

26 what belongs to God." So they 
could not seize on what he said 
before the people, and marvelling 
at his reply they said nothing. 

27 Some of the Sadducees came up, 
who deny any resurrection, and put 

28 a question to him. " Teacher," 
they said, " Moses has written 
this law for us, that if a marCs 
married brother dies and is childless, 
his brother is to take the woman 
and raise offspring for his brother. 

29 Well, there were seven brothers. 
The first married a wife and died 

30 childless. The second and the third 

31 took her, as indeed all the seven did, 
dying and leaving no children. 

32 Afterwards the woman died too. 

33 Now at the resurrection whose wife 
will she be? She was wife to the 

34 seven of them." Jesus said to 
them, " People in this world marry 

35 and are married, but those who 
are considered worthy to attain 
yonder world and the resurrection 
from the dead neither marry nor 

36 are married, for they cannot die any 
more; they are equal to angels 
and by sharing in the resurrection 

37 they are sons of God. And that the 
dead are raised has been indicated 
by Moses in the passage on the 
Bush, when he calls the Lord ' God 
of Abraham and God of Isaac and God 

88 of Jacobs God is not a God of dead 



people but of living, for all live to 
him." Some of the scribes de- 39 
clared, " Teacher, that was a fine 
answer ! " They no longer dared 40 
to put any question to him. But 41 
he said to them, " How can people 
say that the Christ is David's son ? 
Why, David himself says in the 42 
book of psalms. 

The Lord said to my Lord, ' Sit at 

my right hand, 
till I put your enemies under 43 

your feet.' 
David then calls him Lord. So 44 
how can he be his son ? " And in 45 
the hearing of all the people he said 
to his disciples, " Beware of the 46 
scribes 1 They like to walk about 
in long robes, they are fond of 
getting saluted in the market- 
places, of securing the front seats 
in the synagogues and the best 
places at banquets ; they prey upon 47 
the property of widows and offer 
long unreal prayers. All the heavier 
will their sentence be ! " 

OHAP. 

Looking up he saw the rich 21 

putting their gifts into the 
treasury, and noticed a poor 2 
widow putting two little coins 
in. He said, " I tell you plainly, 3 
this poor widow has put in 
more than them all; for these 4 
people all contributed out of their 
surplus, but she has given out of her 
neediness all her living." 

Some were speaking of the temple 5 
with its ornamentation of splendid 
stones and votive gifts, but he said, 
" As for what you see, there are days 6 
coming when not a stone will be 
left upon another, without being 
torn down." So they asked him, 
" Teacher, and when will this 7 
happen? What will be the sign 
for this to take place ? " He said, 8 

105 



S. LUKE XXI 



" Take care that you are not 
misled; for many will come in 
my name saying, ' I am he ' and 
* the time is near ' — do not go after 
9 them. And when you hear of wars 
and disturbances, do not be scared ; 
these have to come first, but the end 

10 is not at once." Then he said 
to them, ''''Nation will rise against 
nation, and realm against realm, 

11 there will be great earthquakes 
with famine and pestilence here and 
there, there will be awful portents 

12 and great signs from heaven. But 
before all that men will lay hands 
on you and persecute you, handing 
you over to synagogues and prisons ; 
you will be dragged before kings 
and governors for the sake of my 

13 name. That will turn out an oppor- 

14 tunity for you to bear witness. So 
resolve to yourselves that you will 
not rehearse your defence before- 

15 hand, for I will give you words and 
wisdom that not one of your oppo- 
nents will be able to meet or refute. 

16 You will be betrayed by your very 
parents and brothers and kinsmen 
and friends, and some of you will 

17 be put to death. You will be hated 

18 by all on account of my name ; but 
not a hair of your head will perish. 

19 Hold out stedfast and you win your 
souls. 

20 But whenever you see Jerusalem 
surrounded by armies, then be sure 
her desolation is not far away. 

21 Then let those who are in Judaea 
fly to the hills, let those who are 
in the city escape, and let not those 
who are in the country come in 

22 to the city; for these are the days 
of the divine Vengeance, in fulfilment 
of all that is written in scripture. 

23 Woe to women with child and to 
women who give suck in those days, 
for sore anguish will come upon 
the land and Wrath on this people ; 

106 



they will fall by the edge of the 24 
sword, they will be carried prisoners 
to all nations, and Jerusalem will 
be under the heel of the Gentiles till 
the period of the Gentiles expires. 
And there will be signs in sun and 25 
moon and stars, while on earth the 
nations will be in dismay with 
bewilderment at the roar of sea and 
waves, men swooning with panic 26 
and foreboding of what is to befall 
the universe. For the orbs of the 
heavens will be shaken, and then 27 
they will see the Son of man coming 
in a cloud with power and great 
glory. But when these things begin 28 
to happen, look up and raise your 
heads, for your release is not far 
distant." And he told them a par- 29 
able. " Look at the fig tree and 
indeed all the trees ; as soon as they 30 
put out their leaves, you can see for 
yourselves that summer is at hand. 
So, whenever you see all this hap- 31 
pen, be sure the Reign of God is 
at hand. 

I tell you truly, the present 32 
generation will not pass away till 
all this happens. Heaven and 33 
earth will pass away, but my 
words never. 

Take heed to yourselves in case 34 
your hearts get overpowered by 
dissipation and drunkenness and 
worldly anxieties, and so that 
Day catches you suddenly like a 
trap. For it will come wpon all 35 
dwellers on the face of all the 
earth. From hour to hour keep 36 
awake, praying that you may suc- 
ceed in escaping all these dangers to 
come and in standing before the 
Son of man." 

By day he taught in the temple, 37 
but at night he went outside the city 
and passed the night on the hill 
called the Olive-Orchard. And all 38 
the people used to come early in the 



S. LUKE XXII 



morning to listen to him in the 
temple. 

OHAF. 

22 Now the feast of unleavened 
bread which is called the passover 

2 was near. The high priests and 
scribes were trying how to get him 
put to death (for they were afraid 

3 of the people), and Satan entered 
Judas called Iscariot, a member of 

4 the twelve, who went off to discuss 
with the high priests and com- 
manders how he could betray him 

5 to them. They were delighted and 

6 agreed to pay him for it. He 
assented to this and sought a 
good opportunity for betraying him 
to them in the absence of the 
crowd. 

7 Then came the day of unleavened 
bread when the paschal lamb had to 

8 be sacrificed. So Jesus despatched 
Peter and John, saying, " Go and 
prepare the passover for us that 

9 we may eat it." They asked him, 
" Where do you want us to prepare 

10 it ? " He said to them, " When you 
enter the city you will meet a man 
carrying a water- jar : follow him to 

11 the house he enters, and tell the 
owner of the house, * The Teacher 
asks you, Where is the room in which 
I can eat the passover with my 

12 disciples ? ' Then he will show you 
a large room upstairs with couches 
spread; make your preparations 

13 there." They went off and found 
it was as he had told them. So 

14 they prepared the passover, and 
when the hour came he took his 
place, with the apostles beside 

15 him. He said to them, " I have 
longed eagerly to eat this pass- 

16 over with you before I suffer, for I 
tell you I will never eat the passover 
again till the fulfilment of it in the 

17 Reign of God." And he took a 



cup which was handed to him, gave 
thanks to God and said, " Take this 
and distribute it among your- 
selves, for I tell you I will never 18 
drink the produce of the vine again 
till such time as God's Reign comes." 
Then he took a loaf and after thank- 19 
ing God he broke it and gave it to 
them, saying, "This means my body 
given up for your sake; do this 
in memory of me." So too he gave 20 
them the cup after supper, saying, 
" This cup means the new covenant 
ratified by my blood shed for your 
sake. But the hand of my betrayer 21 
is on the table beside me ! The Son 22 
of man moves to his end indeed as 
it has been decreed, but woe to the 
man by whom he is betrayed ! " 
And they began to discuss among 23 
themselves which of them could 
possibly be going to do such a 
thing. A quarrel also rose among 24- 
them as to which of them could 
be considered the greatest. But 25 
Jesus said to them, 
'* The kings of the Gentiles rule 

over them, 
and their authorities take the 

name of ' Benefactor ' : 
not so with you. 26 

He who is greatest among you 

must be like the youngest, 
and he who is chief like a 

servant. 
Which is the greatest, guest or 27 

servant? Is it not the 

guest ? 
But I am among you as a 

servant. 
It is you who have stood by me 28 
through my trials ; so, even as my 29 
Father has assigned me royal power, 
I assign you the right of eating and 30 
drinking at my table in my Realm 
and of sitting on thrones to rule the 
twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, 31 
Simon, Satan has claimed the right 

107 



S. LUKE XXII 



S2 to sift you all like wheat, but I have 
prayed that your own faith may 
not fail. And you in turn must 
be a strength to your brothers." 

33 " Lord," he said, " I am ready to 
go with you to prison and to death." 

34 Jesus said, " I tell you, Peter, the 
cock will not crow to-day before 
you have three times denied that 

35 you know me." And he said to 
them, " When I sent you out with 
neither purse nor wallet nor san- 
dals, did you want for anything? " 
"No," they said, "for nothing." 

86 Then he said to them, " But he who 
has a purse must take it now, and 
the same with a wallet; and he 
who has no sword must sell his 

37 coat and buy one. For I tell you, 
this word of scripture must be ful- 
filled in me : he was classed among 
criminals. Yes, there is an end to 

38 all that refers to me." " Lord," 
they said, " here are two swords ! " 
" Enough ! Enough ! " he an- 
swered. 

39 Then he went outside and made 
his way to the Hill of Olives, as 
he was accustomed. The disciples 

40 followed him, and v/hen he reached 
the spot he said to them, " Pray 
that you may not slip into tempta- 

41 tion." He withdrew about a 
stone's throw and knelt in prayer, 

42 saying, " Father, if it please thee, 
take this cup away from me. But 

43 thy will, not mine, be done." [And 
an angel from heaven appeared to 

44 strengthen him ; he fell into an 
agony and prayed with greater 
intensity, his sweat dropping to the 

45 ground like clots of blood.] Then 
rising from prayer he went to the 
disciples, only to find them asleep 

46 from sheer sorrow. He said to 
them, " Why are you sleeping ? 
Get up and pray that you may 

47 not slip into temptation," While 

10$ 



he was still speaking there came a 
mob headed by the man called 
Judas, one of the twelve. He 
approached in order to kiss Jesus, 
but Jesus said to him, " Judas ! 48 
would you betray the Son of man 
with a kiss ? " Now when the 49 
supporters of Jesus saw what was 
going to happen, they said, " Lord, 
shall we strike with our swords ? " 
And one of them did strike the 50 
servant of the high priest, cutting 
off his right ear. Jesus said, " Let 51 
me do this at least," and cured him 
by touching his ear. Then he said 52 
to the high priests and commanders 
of the temple and elders who had 
appeared to take him, " Have you 
sallied out to arrest me like a robber, 
with swords and clubs ? Day after 53 
day I was beside you in the temple, 
and you never stretched a hand 
against me. But this is your hour 
and the dark Power has its way." 

Then they arrested him and led 54 
him away inside the house of the 
high priest. Peter followed at a 
distance and sat down among some 
people who had lit a fire in the court- 55 
yard and were sitting round it. 
A maidservant who noticed him 56 
sitting by the fire took a long look 
at him and said, " That fellow was 
with him too." But he disowned 
him, saying, " Woman, I know 57 
nothing about him." Shortly 58 
afterw^ards another man noticed 
him and said, " Why, you are one 
of them ! " " Man," said Peter, 
" I am not." About an hour had 59 
passed when another man insisted, 
" That fellow really was with him. 
Why, he is a Galilean ! " " Man," 60 
said Peter, " I do not know what 
you mean." Instantly, just as he 
was speaking, the cock crowed; 
the Lord turned round and looked 61 
at Peter, and then Peter remem- 



S. LUKE XXIII 



bered what the Lord had told him, 
that * Before cock-crow to-day 
you will disown me three times.' 

62 And he went outside and wept 
bitterly, 

63 Meantime the men who had Jesus 
in custody flogged him and made 

64 fun of him ; blindfolding him they 
would ask him, " Prophesy, tell 

65 us who struck you ? " And many 
another insult they uttered against 
him. 

66 When day broke, the elders of 
the people all met along with the 
high priests and scribes, and had 
him brought before their Sanhedrin. 

67 They said to him, " Tell us if you 
are the Christ." He said to them, 
" You will not believe me if I tell 

68 you, and you will not answer me 

69 when I put a question to you. But 
after this the Son of man will he seated 
at God's right hand of power." 

70 " Are you the Son of God then ? " 
they all said. " Certainly," he 
replied, " I am." So they said, 

71 " What more evidence do we need ? 
We have heard it from his own lips." 

CHAP. 

23 Then the whole body of them 
2 rose and led him to Pilate. They 
proceeded to accuse him, saying, 
" We have discovered this fellow 
perverting our nation, forbidding 
tribute being paid to Csesar, and 
alleging he is king messiah." 
8 Pilate asked him, " Are you the 
king of the Jews ? " He replied, 

4 " Certainly." And Pilate said to 
the high priests and the crowds, " I 
cannot find anything criminal 

5 about him." But they insisted, 
" He stirs up the people by teaching 
all over Judaea. He started from 

6 Galilee and now he is here." When 
Pilate heard that, he asked if the 

7 man was a Gahlean, and ascertain- 



ing that he came under the juris- 
diction of Herod, he remitted him 
to Herod, who himself was in 
Jerusalem during those days. 
Herod was greatly delighted to see 8 
Jesus; he had long wanted to see 
him, because he had heard about 
him and also because he hoped to 
see him perform some miracle. 
But though he put many questions 9 
to him, Jesus gave him no answer. 
Meanwhile the high priests and 10 
scribes stood and accused him with 
might and main. Then Herod and 11 
his troops scoffed at him and made 
fun of him, and after arraying him 
in a bright robe he remitted him to 
Pilate. Herod and Pilate, became 12 
friends that day — previously they 
had been at enmity. 

Then summoning the high priests 13 
and rulers and the people, Pilate 
said to them, " You brought me this 14 
man as being an inciter to rebellion 
among the people. I have examined 
him before you and found nothing 
criminal about him, for all your 
accusations against him. No, nor 15 
has Herod, for he has remitted him 
to us. He has done nothing, you 
see, that calls for death ; so I shall 16 
release him with a whipping."* 18 
But they shouted one and all, 
" Away with him ! Release Bar- 
Abbas for us ! " (This was a man 19 
who had been put into prison on 
account of a riot which had taken 
place in the city and also on a charge 
of murder. ) Again Pilate addressed 20 
them, for he wanted to release Jesus, 
but they roared, " To the cross, 21 
to the cross with him ! " He asked 22 
them a third time, " But what crime 
has he committed? I have found 
nothing about him that deserves 

* Omitting [avdyKrjy Se tlx^y airoXveur 
axnols KarcL eoprrju eVo] 83 an explanatory 
and harmonistic gloss. 

109 



S. LUKE XXIII 



death; so I shall release him with 

23 a whipping." But they loudly 
urged their demand that he should 
be crucified, and their shouts carried 

24 the day. Pilate gave sentence that 
their demand was to be carried 

25 out; he released the man they 
wanted, the man who had been 
imprisoned for riot and murder, 
and Jesus he handed over to their 
will. 

26 As they led him off they caught 
hold of Simon a Cyrenian on his way 
from the country and laid the cross 

27 on him to carry after Jesus. He 
was followed by a large multitude 
of the people and also of women 
who beat their breasts and lamented 

28 him; but Jesus turned to them 
and said, " Daughters of Jerusalem, 
weep not for me but weep for your- 

29 selves and for your children ! For 
there are days coming when the cry 
will be, 

* Blessed are the barren, 

the wombs that never have 

borne 
and the breasts that never have 
suckled ! ' 
SO Then will people say to the moun- 
tains, ' Fall on us ! ' and to 
the hills, ' Cover us.* 

31 For if this is what they do when 

the wood is green, 
what will they do when the 
wood is dry? " 

32 Two criminals were also led out 
S3 with him to be executed, and when 

they came to the place called The 
Skull they crucified him there with 
the criminals, one at his right and 

34 one at his left. Jesus said, " Father, 
forgive them, they do not know 
what they aro doing." Then they 
distributed his clothes among them- 

35 selves by drawing lots. The people 
stood and looked on, and even 
the rulers sneered at him, saying, 

no 



" He saved others, let him save him- 
self, if he is the Christ of God, the 
Chosen One ! " The soldiers made 36 
fun of him too by coming up and 
handing him vinegar, saying, " If 37 
you are the king of the Jews, save 
yourself." (For there was an 38 
inscription over him in Greek and 
Roman and Hebrew characters, 

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.) 

One of the criminals who had been 39 
hung also abused him, saying, " Are 
you not the Christ? Save your- 
self and us as well." But the other 40 
checked him, saying, " Have you 
no fear even of God? You are 
suffering the same punishment as 
he. And we suffer justly; we are 41 
getting what we deserve for our 
deeds. But he has done no harm." 
And he added, " Jesus, do not for- 42 
get me when you come to reign." 
" I tell you truly," said Jesus, " you 43 
will be in paradise with me this very 
day." 

By this time it was about twelve 44 
o'clock, and darkness covered the 
whole land till three o'clock, owing 45 
to an eclipse of the sun; the cur- 
tain in the middle of the temple 
was torn in two. Then with a loud 46 
cry Jesus said, " Father, / trust my 
spirit to thy hands, ^^ and with these 
words he expired. When the army- 47 
captain saw what had happened, 
he glorified God, saying, " This man 
was really innocent." And when 48 
all the crowds who had collected 
for the sight saw what had happened 
they turned away beating their 
breasts. As for his acquaintances, 49 
they were all standing at a distance 
to look on, with the women who 
had accompanied him from Galilee. 

Now there was a man called 50 
Joseph, a member of council but 
a good and just man who had not 51 



S. LUKE XXIV 



voted for their plan of action ; he 
belonged to Arimathaea, a Jewish 
towTi, and he was on the outlook for 

52 the Reign of God. This Joseph went 
to Pilate and asked him for the body 

53 of Jesus. He then took it down, 
wrapped it in linen, and put it in 
a tomb cut out of the rock, where no 

54 one had yet been buried. It was 
the day of the Preparation and the 

55 sabbath was just dawning. So the 
women who had accompanied him 
from Galilee and who had followed 
Joseph, noted the tomb and the 

56 position of the body ; then they 
went home and prepared spices and 
perfumes, 

CHAP. 

24 On the sabbath they rested in 
obedience to God's command, but 
on the first day of the week at early 
dawn they took the spices they had 
prepared and went to the tomb. 

2 The boulder they found rolled away 

3 from the tomb, but when they went 
inside they could not find the body 

4 of the Lord Jesus. They were 
puzzling over this, when two men 
flashed on them in dazzling raiment. 

5 They were terrified and bent their 
faces to the ground, but the men 
said to them, " Why do you look 
among the dead for him who is 

6 alive ? He is not here, he has risen. 
Remember how he told you when 

7 he was still in Galilee that the Son 
of man had to be betrayed into the 
hands of sinful men and be crucified 

8 and rise on the third day." Then 
they remembered what he had said, 

9 and turning away from the tomb 
they reported all this to the eleven 

10 and all the others. (It was Mary 
of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the 
mother of James who with the rest 
of the women told this to the 

11 apostles.) But this story of the 



women seemed in their opinion to 
be nonsense; they would not 
believe them. Peter did get up 12 
and run to the tomb, but when he 
looked in he saw nothing except 
the linen bandages; so he went 
away home wondering what had 
happened. 

That very day two of them were 13 
on their way to a village called 
Emmaus about seven miles from 
Jerusalem. They were conversing 14 
about all these events, and during 15 
their conversation and discussion 
Jesus himself approached and 
walked beside them, though they 16 
were prevented from recognizing 
him. He said to them, " What is 17 
all this you are debating on your 
walk ? " They stopped, looking 
downcast, and one of them, called 18 
Cleopas, answered him, " Are you 
a lone stranger in Jerusalem, not 
to know what has been happening 
there ? " " What is that ? " he said 19 
to them. They replied, " All about 
Jesus of Nazaret ! To God and 
all the people he was a prophet 
strong in action and utterance, 
but the high priests and our rulers 20 
delivered him up to be sentenced 
to death and crucified him. Our 21 
own hope was that he would be the 
redeemer of Israel ; but he is dead, 
and that is three days ago ! Though 22 
some women of our number gave us 
a surprise ; they were at the tomb 
early in the morning and could not 23 
find his body, but they came to tell 
us they had actually seen a vision 
of angels who declared he was alive. 
Some of our company did go to the 24 
tomb and found things exactly as 
the women had said, but they did 
not see him." He said to them, 25 
" O foolish men, with hearts so slow 
to believe, after all the prophets 
have declared ! Had not the Christ 26 

111 



S. LUKE XXIV 



to suffer thus and so enter his 

27 glory ? " Then he began with 
Moses and all the prophets and 
interpreted to them the passages 
referring to himself throughout the 

28 scriptures. Now they approached 
the village to which they were going. 
He pretended to be going further 

29 on, but they pressed him, saying, 
" Stay with us, for it is getting 
towards evening and the day has 
now declined." So he went in to 

30 stay with them. And as he lay at 
table with them he took the loaf, 
blessed it, broke it and handed it 

81 to them. Then their eyes were 
opened and they recognized him, 
but he vanished from their sight. 

32 And they said to one another, 
" Did not our hearts glow within 
us when he was talking to us on 
the road, opening up the scriptures 

33 for us ? " So they got up and re- 
turned that very hour to Jerusalem, 
where they found the eleven and 

34 their friends all gathered, who told 
them that the Lord had really risen 
and that he had appeared to Simon. 

35 Then they related their own ex- 
perience on the road and how they 
had recognized him when he broke 

36 the loaf. Just as they were speak- 
ing He stood among them [and said 

37 to them, " Peace to you ! "] They 
were scared and terrified, imagining 
it was a ghost they saw; but he 

38 said to them, " Why are you upset ? 
Why do doubts invade your mind ? 



Look at my hands and feet. It 39 
is I ! Feel me and see ; a ghost 
has not flesh and bones as you see 
I have." [With these words he 40 
showed them his hands and feet.] 
Even yet they could not believe it 41 
for sheer joy; they were lost in 
wonder. So he said to them, " Have 
you any food here ? " And when 42 
they handed him a piece of broiled 
fish, he took and ate it in their 43 
presence. Then he said to them, 44 
" When I was still with you this is 
what I told you, that whatever is 
written about me in the law of Moses 
and the prophets and the psalms 
must be fulfilled." Then he opened 45 
their minds to understand the scrip- 
tures. " Thus," he said, " it is 46 
written that the Christ has to suffer 
and rise from the dead on the third 
day, and that repentance and the 47 
remission of sins must be preached 
in his name to all nations, beginning 
from Jerusalem. To this you must 48 
bear testimony. And I will send 49 
down on you what my Father has 
promised ; wait in the city till you 
are endued with power from on 
high." He led them out as far as 50 
Bethany; then, lifting his hands, 
he blessed them. And as he blessed 51 
them he parted from them [and was 
carried up to heaven]. They wor- 52 
shipped him and returned with great 
joy to Jerusalem, where they spent 
all their time within the temple, 53 
blessino- God. 



112 



THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 

S. JOHN 



1 The Logos existed in the very 

beginning, 
the Logos was with God, 
the Logos was divine. 

2 He was with God in the very- 

beginning : 

3 through him all existence came 

into being, 
no existence came into being 
apart from him. 

4 In him life lay, 

and this life was the Light for 
men : 

5 amid the darkness the Light 

shone, 
but the darkness did not master 
it. 

6 A man appeared, sent by God, 

7 whose name was John : he came 
for the purpose of \vitnessing, to 
bear testimony to the Light, so that 
all men might believe by means of 

8 him. He was not the Light ; it 
was to bear testimony to the 

9 Light that he appeared. The real 
Light, which enlightens every man, 
was coming then into the world : 

10 he entered the world — 

the world which existed through 
him — 
yet the world did not recognize 
him; 

11 he came to what was his own, 

yet his own folk did not 
welcome him. 

12 On those who have accepted him, 
however, he has conferred the right 
of being children of God, that is, 
on those who believe in his Name, 

13 who owe this birth of theirs to 



God, not to human blood, nor to 
any impulse of the flesh or of man. 
So the Logos became flesh and 14 
tarried among us; we have seen 
his glory — glory such as an only 
son enjoys from his father — seen 
it to be full of grace and reality. 
(John testified to him with the cry, 15 
' This was he of whom I said, my 
successor has taken precedence of 
me, for he preceded me.') For 16 
we have all been receiving grace 
after grace from his fulness ; while 17 
the Law was given through Moses, 
grace and reality are ours through 
Jesus Christ. Nobody has ever 18 
seen God, but God has been un- 
folded by the divine One, the only 
Son,* who lies upon the Father's 
breast. 

Now here is John's testimony. 19 
When the Jews of Jerusalem 
despatched priests and Levites to 
ask him, " Who are you ? " he 20 
frankly confessed — he did not deny 
it, he frankly confessed, " I am not 
the Christ." They asked him, 21 
"Then what are you? Elijah?" 
He said, " I am not." " Are you 
the Prophet?" "No," he an- 
swered. "Then who are you? " 22 
they said ; " tell us, so that we can 
give some answer to those who sent 
us. W^hat have you to say for 
yourself ? " He said, " I am 23 

* Although eeSs (' the divine one *) 
is probably more original than the variant 
reading vios, fioyoyevris (see ver. 14) 
requires some such periphrasis in order 
to bring out its full meaning here. 

113 



S. JOHN I 



the voice of one who cries in the 

desert, 
' level the way for the Lord ' — 

24 as the prophet Isaiah said." Now 
it was some of the Pharisees who 

25 had been sent to him ; so they 
asked him, saying, " Then why are 
you baptizing people, if you are 
neither the Christ nor EHjah nor 

26 the Prophet ? " " I am baptizing 
with water," John rephed, " but 
my successor is among you. One 

27 whom you do not recognize, and I 
am not fit to untie the thong of 

28 his sandal." This took place at 
Bethany on the opposite side of the 
Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

29 Next day he observed Jesus com- 
ing towards him and exclaimed, 
" Look, there is the lamb of God, 
who is to remove the sin of the 

80 world ! That is he of whom I 
said, * The man who is to succeed 
me has taken precedence of me, for 

31 he preceded me.' I myself did not 
recognize him; I only came to 
baptize with water, in order that 
he might be disclosed to Israel." 

82 And John bore this testimony also : 
" I saw the Spirit descend like a 
dove from heaven and rest on him. 

88 I myself did not recognize him, but 
He who sent me to baptize with 
water told me, ' He on whom you 
see the Spirit descending and rest- 
ing, that is he who baptizes with the 

84 holy Spirit.' Now I did see it, and 
I testify that he is the Son of God." 

85 Next day again John was stand- 
36 ing with two of his disciples ; he 

gazed at Jesus as he walked about, 
and said, " Look, there is the lamb 

87 of God ! " The two disciples heard 
what he said and went after Jesus. 

88 Now Jesus turned, and when he 
observed them coming after him, he 
asked them, " What do you want ?" 
They replied, "Rabbi" (which 

114 



may be translated, * teacher '), 
"where are you staying?" He 
said to them, " Come and see." 39 
So they went and saw where he 
stayed, and stayed with him the 
rest of that day — it was then about 
four in the afternoon. One of the 40 
two men who heard what John said 
and went after Jesus was Andrew, 
the brother of Peter. In the morn- 41 
ing* he met his brother Simon and 
told him, " We have found the 
messiah " (which may be translated, 
' Christ '). He took him to Jesus; 42 
Jesus gazed at him and said, " You 
are Simon, the son of John ? Your 
name is to be Cephas " (meaning 
' Peter ' or ' rock '). 

Next day Jesus determined to 43 
leave for Galilee; there he met 
Philip and told him, " Follow me." 
Now Philip belonged to Bethsaida, 44 
the same town as Andrew and 
Peter ; he met Nathanael and told 45 
him, " We have found him whom 
Moses wrote about in the Law, 
and also the prophets — it is Jesus, 
the son of Joseph, who comes 
from Nazaret." " Nazaret ! " said 46 
Nathanael, " can anything good 
come out of Nazaret?" "Come 
and see," said Philip. Jesus saw 47 
Nathanael approaching and said of 
him, " Here is a genuine Israelite ! 
There is no guile in him." Nathan- 48 
ael said to him, " How do you 
know me ? " Jesus answered, 
" When you were under that fig 
tree, before ever Philip called 
you, I saw you." " Rabbi," said 49 
Nathanael, " you are the Son of 
God, you are the king of Israel ! " 
Jesus answered, " You believe be- 50 
cause I told you I had seen you 

* The Greek word (vpoot) has been mis- 
read in nearly all the MSS. for " first " 
{■nrparov) ; see the note in Mrs. A. S. Lewis's 
Old Syriac Gospels (1910), pp. xxviii-xxix. 



S. JOHN II 



under that fig tree ? You shall see 
51 more than thn,t." He said to him, 
" Truly, truly I tell you all,* you 
shall see heaven open wide and 
God's angels ascending and descend- 
ing upon the Son of man." 

CHAP. 

2 Two days later a wedding took 
place at Cana in Galilee ; the mother 

2 of Jesus was present, and Jesus and 
his disciples had also been invited 

3 to the wedding. As the wine ran 
short, the mother of Jesus said 
to him, " They have no wine." 

4 " Woman," said Jesus, " what have 
you to do with me ? My time has 

5 not come yet." His mother said 
to the servants, " Do whatever he 

6 tells you." Now six stone water- 
jars were standing there, for the 
Jewish rites of 'purification,' each 
holding about twenty gallons. 

7 Jesus said, " Fill up the jars with 
water." So they filled them to the 

8 brim. Then he said, " Now draw 
some out, and take it to the man- 

9 ager of the feast." They did so ; 
and when the manager of the feast 
tasted the water which had become 
wine, not knowing where it had 
come from (though the servants 
who had drawn it knew), he called 

10 the bridegroom and said to him, 
" Everybody serves the good wine 
first, and then the poorer wine after 
people have drunk freely ; you have 
kept the good wine till now." 

11 Jesus performed this, the first of 
his Signs, at Cana in Galilee, thereby 
displaying his glory; and his dis- 
ciples believed in him. 

12 After this he travelled down to 
Capharnahum, with his mother and 

* I insert the word ' all ', to make it clear 
that the ' you ' of ver. 61 is plural. The 
promise is more than a personal word to 
Nathanael. 



brothers and disciples ; they stayed 
there for a few days.f 

After this Jesus and his disciples 22 
went into the country of Judaea, 
where he spent some time with 
theni baptizing. John was also 23 
baptizing at Aenon near Salim, as 
there was plenty of water there, 
and people came to him and were 
baptized (John had not yet been 24 
thrown into prison). Now a dis- 25 
pute arose between John's disciples 
and a Jew over the question of 
' purification ' ; and they came and 26 
told John, " Rabbi, the man who 
was with you on the opposite side 
of the Jordan, the man to whom 
you bore testimony — here he is, 
baptizing, and everybody goes to 
him ! " John answered, " No one 27 
can receive anything except as a 
gift from heaven. You can bear 28 
me out, that I said, ' I am not 
the Christ ' ; what I said was, ' I 
have been sent in advance of him.' 
He who has the bride is the bride- 29 
groom; the bridegroom's friend, 
who stands by and Ustens to him, 
is heartily glad at the sound of the 
bridegroom's voice. Such is my 
joy, and it is complete. He must 30 
wax, I must wane." 

Now the Jewish passover was 13 
near, so Jesus went up to Jeru- 
salem. There he found, seated in- 14 
side the temple, dealers in cattle, 
sheep and pigeons, also money- 
changers. Making a scourge of 15 
cords, he drove them all, sheep 
and cattle together, out of the 
temple, scattered the coins of the 
brokers and upset their tables, and 16 
told the pigeon-dealers, " Away 
with these I My Father's house is 
not to be turned into a shop ! " 
(His disciples recalled the scripture 17 

t Transposing iii. 22-30 to its true 
position between ii. 12 and ii. 13. 

115 



S. JOHN III 



saying, I am consumed with zeal for 

18 thy house.) Then the Jews accosted 
him with the words, " What sign 
of authority have you to show us, 

19 for acting in this way ? " Jesus 
repHed, " Destroy this sanctuary 
and I will raise it up in three days." 

20 " This sanctuary took forty-six 
years to build," the Jews retorted, 
" and you are going to raise it up 

21 in three days I " He meant the 

22 sanctuary of his body, however, 
and when the disciples recalled what 
he had said, after he had been raised 
from the dead, they believed the 
scripture and the word of Jesus. 

23 When he was in Jerusalem at the 
festival of the passover, many 
people believed in his name, as they 
witnessed the Signs which he per- 

24 formed. Jesus, however, would 
not trust* himself to them ; he knew 

25 all men, and required no evidence 
from anyone about human nature ; 
well did he know what was in human 
nature. 

OHAP. 

3 Now there was a Pharisee named 
Nicodemus, who belonged to the 

2 Jewish authorities ; he came one 
night to Jesus and said, " Rabbi, 
we know you have come from God 
to teach us, for no one could perform 
these Signs of yours unless God 

3 were with him." Jesus replied, 
" Truly, truly I tell you, no one can 
see God's Realm unless he is born 

4 from above." Nicodemus said to 
him, " How can a man be born 
when he is old? Can he enter 
his mother's womb over again and 

5 be born ? " Jesus replied, " Truly, 
truly I tell you, unless one is born 
of water and the Spirit, he cannot 

* The Vulgate is able to preserve the asson- 
ance of the word * trust ' here and * believe ' 
in ver. 23 : ** multi crediderunt in nomine 
eius. . . . lesus non oredebat semet ipsum eis." 

116 



enter God's Realm. What is born 6 
of the flesh is flesh : what is born | 
of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not 7 ! 
wonder at me saying, ' You must i 
be born from above.' The wind 8 I 
blows where it wills ; you can hear ] 
its sound, but you never know \ 
where it has come from or where \ 
it goes : it is the same with everyone 
who is born of the Spirit." Nico- 9 
demus answered, " How can that 
be ? " Jesus replied, " You do not 10 
understand this? — you, a teacher 
in Israel ! Truly, truly I tell you, 11 
we are speaking of what we do 
understand, we testify to what we 
have actually seen — and yet you 
refuse our testimony. If you will 12 
not believe when I speak to you 
about things on earth, how will 
you believe if I speak to you about 
things in heaven ? And yet the 13 
Son of man, descended from heaven, 
is the only one who has ever as- 
cended into heaven. Indeed the Son 14 
of man must be lifted on high, just 
as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the desert, that everyone who 15 
believes in him may have eternal 
life. For God loved the world 16 
so dearly that he gave up his 
only Son, so that everyone who 
believes in him may have eternal 
life, instead of perishing. God 
did not send his Son into the 17 
world to pass sentence on it, but 
to save the world by him. He 18 
who believes in him is not sen- 
tenced ; he who will not believe is 
sentenced already, for having re- 
fused to believe in the name of the 
only Son of God. And this is the 19 
sentence of condemnation, that the 
Light has entered the world and 
yet men have preferred darkness 
to light. It is because their actions 
have been evil ; for anyone whose 20 
practices are corrupt loathes the 



S. JOHN IV 



light and will not come out into it, 
in case his actions are exposed, 
21 whereas anyone whose life is true 
comes out into the light, to make 
it plain that his actions have been 
divinely prompted. 

31 He who comes from above is far 
above all others; he who springs 
from earth belongs to earth and 
speaks of earth ; he who comes from 

32 heaven is far above all others. He 
is testifying to what he has seen 
and heard, and yet no one accepts 

33 his testimony. Whoever does ac- 
cept it, certifies to the truth of God. 

34 For he whom God has sent utters 
the words of God — God gives him 
the Spirit in no sparing measure; 

35 the Father loves the Son and has 
given him control over everjrthing. 

36 He who believes in the Son has 
eternal life, but he who disobeys 
the Son shall not see life — God's 
anger broods over him." 

OHAP. 

4 Now when the Lord learned that 
the Pharisees had heard of Jesus 
gaining and baptizing more dis- 

2 ciples than John (though Jesus him- 
self did not baptize, it was his 

3 disciples), he left Judaea and went 

4 back to Galilee. He had to pass 

5 through Samaria, and in so doing 
he arrived at a Samaritan town 
called Sychar ; it lay near the terri- 
tory which Jacob had given to his 

6 son Joseph, and Jacob's spring was 
there. Jesus, exhausted by the 
journey, sat down at the spring, 
just as he was. It was about noon, 

7 and a Samaritan woman came to 
draw water. Jesus said to her, 

8 " Give me a drink " (his disciples 
had gone to the town to buy some 

9 food). The Samaritan woman said, 
" What ? You * are a Jew, and you 

* The Greek word for * you ' (in the singu- 
lar) oeours oftenes in the Fourth gospel than 



ask me for a drink — me, a Samari- 
tan ! " (Jews do not associate Avith 
Samaritans.) Jesus answered, " If 10 
you knew what is the free gift of 
God and who is asking you for a 
drink, you would have asked him 
instead, and he would have given 
you ' living' water." " Sir," said 11 
the woman, " you have nothing to 
draw water with, and it is a deep 
well; where do you get your 
' living ' water ? Are you a greater 12 
man than Jacob, our ancestor ? He 
gave us this well, and he drank from 
it, with his sons and his cattle." 
Jesus answered, " Anyone who 13 
drinks this water will be thirsty 
again, but anyone who drinks the 14 
water I will give him will never 
thirst any more; the water I will 
give him will turn into a spring 
of water welling up to eternal life." 
" Ah, sir," said the woman, " give 15 
me this water, so that I need not 
thirst or come all this road to draw 
water." Jesus said to her, " Go 16 
and call your husband, then come 
back here." The woman replied, 17 
" I have no husband." Jesus said 
to her, " You were right in saying, 
' I have no husband ' ; you have had 18 
five husbands, and he whom you 
have now espoused is not your 
husband. That was a true word." 
" Sir," said the woman, " I see you 19 
are a prophet. Now our ancestors 20 
worshipped on this mountain, 
whereas you Jews declare the proper 
place for worship is at Jerusalem." 
" Woman," said Jesus, " believe me, 21 
the time is coming when you will 
be worshipping the Father neither 
on this mountain nor at Jerusalem. 

in all the first three gospels put together. 
Dr. E. A. Abbott regards this as an indication 
of the evangelist's tendency ' to lay stress 
on personality, and to express personality in 
dialogue.' 

117 



S. JOHN IV 



22 You are worshipping something 
you do not know; we are wor- 
shipping what we do know — for 

23 salvation comes from the Jews. But 
the time is coming, it has come 
already, when the real worshippers 
will worship the Father in Spirit 
and in reality; for these are the 
worshippers that the Father wants. 

24 God is Spirit, and his worshippers 
must worship him in Spirit and 

25 in reality." The woman said to 
him, " Well, I know messiah (which 
means Christ) is coming. When he 

26 arrives, he will explain it all to us." 
*' I am messiahj" said Jesus, " I 
who am talking to you." 

27 At this point his disciples came 
up; they were surprised that he 
was talking to a woman, but none 
of them said, " What is it ? " or, 
"Why are you talking to her?" 

28 Then the woman left her water-pot, 
and going off to the town told the 

29 people, " Come here, look at a man 
who has told me everything I ever 
did! Can he be the Christ?" 

80 They set out from the town on their 

31 way to him. Meanwhile the dis- 
ciples pressed him, saying, " Rabbi, 

32 eat something." But he said to 
them, " I have food, of which you 

33 know nothing." So they asked 
each other, " Can anyone have 
brought him something to eat ? " 

34 Jesus said, " My food is to do the 
will of him who sent me, and to 

35 accomplish his work. You have a 
saying, have you not, * Four months 
yet, then harvest ' ? Look round, 
I tell you; see, the fields are white 

36 for harvesting ! The reaper is 
already getting his wages and 
harvesting for eternal life, so 
that the sower shares the reaper's 

37 joy. That proverb, ' One sows and 

38 another reaps,* holds true here : I 
sent you to reap a crop for which 

118 



you did not toil ; other men have 
toiled, and you reap the profit of 
their toil." Now many Samari- 39 
tans belonging to that town believed 
in him on account of the woman's 
testimony, " He told me everything 
I ever did." So when the Samari- 40 
tans arrived, they pressed him to 
stay with them; he did stay there 
two days, and far more of them 41 
believed on account of what he 
said himself. As they told the 42 
woman, " We no longer believe on 
account of what you said ; we have 
heard for ourselves, we know that he 
is really the Saviour of the world." 

When the two days were over, 43 
he left for Galilee (for Jesus himself 44 
testified that a prophet enjoys no 
honour in his own country) ; on 45 
reaching Galilee, he was welcomed 
by the Galileans, who had seen all he 
did at the festival in Jerusalem — ^f or 
they too had gone to the festival. 

Once more he came to Can in 46 
Galilee, where he had turned the 
water into wine. There was a royal 
official, whose son was lying ill at 
Capernaum ; when he heard that 47 
Jesus had arrived in Galilee from 
Judaea, he went to him and begged 
him to come down and cure his son, 
who was at the point of death. 
Jesus said to him, " Unless you see 48 
signs and wonders, you never vdll 
believe." The official said, " Come 49 
down, sir, before my boy is dead." 50 
Jesus told him, " Go yourself, your 
son is alive." The man believed 
what Jesus told him, and started on 
his journey. And on the road his 51 
servants met him vidth the news 
that his boy was alive. So he asked 52 
them at what hour he had begun 
to improve ; they told him, " Yes- 
terday at one o'clock the fever left 
him." Then the father realized 58 
that it had left him at the very 



S. JOHN V 



time when Jesus had said to him, 
"Your son is alive"; and he became 
a believer with all his household. 
54 This was the second Sign which 
Jesus performed again after leaving 
Judaea for Galilee. 

OHAP. 

5 After this there was a festival 
of the Jews, and Jesus went up 

2 to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem 
there is a bath beside the sheep- 
pool, which is called in Hebrew 
Beth-zatha; it has five porticoes, 

3 where a crowd of invalids used to 
He, the blind, the lame, and folk 
with shrivelled limbs [waiting for 

4 the water to bubble. For an angel 
used to descend from time to time 
into the bath, and disturb the water ; 
whereupon the first person who 
stepped in after the water was dis- 
turbed was restored to health, no 
matter what disease he had been 

6 afflicted with].* Now one man was 
there, whose illness had lasted 

6 thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him 
lying, and knowing he had been 
ill for a long while he said to him, 
*' Do you want your health re- 

7 stored ? " The invahd rephed, " Sir, 
I have nobody to put me into the 
bath, when the water is disturbed ; 
and while I am getting down my- 
self, someone else gets in before 

8 me." Jesus said to him, " Get 

9 up, lift your mat, and walk." And 
instantly the man got well, lifted 
his mat, and started to walk. 

10 Now it was the sabbath on that 
day. So the Jews said to the man 
who had been cured, " This is the 
sabbath, you have no right to be 

11 carrying your mat." He rephed, 
" But the man who healed me, he 

* The words in brackets, omitted by 
von Soden, represent a passage which is 
absent from many important versions and 
manuscripts. 



told me, * Lift your mat and walk '.** 
They questioned him, " Who was 12 
it that told you, ' Lift it and 
walk ' ? " Now the man who had 13 
been healed did not know who it 
was, for (owing to the crowd on 
the spot) Jesus had sHpped away. 
Later on Jesus met him in the 14 
temple, and said to him, " See, you 
are well and strong; commit no 
more sins, in case something worse 
befalls you." Off went the man 15 
and told the Jews it was Jesus 
who had healed him. And this was 16 
why the Jews persecuted Jesus, 
because he did things like this on 
the sabbath. The reply of Jesus 17 
was, " As my Father has continued 
working to this hour, so I work too." 
But this only made the Jews more 18 
eager to kill him, because he not 
merely broke the sabbath but 
actually spoke of God as his own 
Father, thereby making himself 
equal to God. So Jesus made 19 
this answer to them : " Truly, 
truly I tell you, the Son can do 
nothing of his own accord, nothing 
but what he sees the Father doing ; 
for whatever he does, the Son also 
does the same. The Father loves 20 
the Son and shows him all that 
he is doing himself. He will show 
him still greater deeds than these, 
to make you wonder ; for as the 21 
Father raises the dead and makes 
them alive, so the Son makes 
anyone live whom he chooses. 
Indeed the Father passes judgment 22 
on no one; he has committed the 
judgment which determines life or 
death entirely to the Son, that all 23 
men may honour the Son as they 
honour the Father. (He who does 
not honour the Son does not 
honour the Father who sent him.) 
Truly, truly I tell you, he who 24 
listens to my word and believes 

119 



S. JOHN V 



him who sent me has eternal 
life; he will incur no sentence of 
judgment, he has already passed 

25 from death across to life. Truly, 
truly I tell you, the time is com- 
ing, it has come already, when 
the dead will listen to the voice of 
the Son of God, and those who 

26 listen will live ; for as the Father 
has life in himself, so too he has 
granted the Son to have life in 

27 himself, and also granted him 
authority to act as judge, since he 

28 is Son of man. Do not wonder 
at this; for there is a time coming 
when all who are in the tombs will 

29 listen to his voice and come out, 
the doers of good to be raised to 
life, ill-doers to be raised for the 
sentence of judgment. 

30 I can do nothing of my own 
accord ; I pass judgment on men 
as I am taught by God, and my 
judgment is just, because my aim 
is not my own will but the will of 

31 him who sent me. If I testify to 
myself, then my evidence is not 

32 valid ; I have Another to bear 
testimony to me, and I know the 
evidence he bears to me is valid. 

33 You sent to John, and he bore 

34 testimony to the truth (though I 
accept no testimony from man — I 
only speak of this testimony, that 

85 you may be saved) ; he was a burn- 
ing and a shining lamp, and you 
chose to rejoice for a while in his 

36 light. But I possess a testimony 
greater than that of John, for the 
deeds which the Father has granted 
me to accomplish, the very deeds on 
which I am engaged, are my testi- 
mony that the Father has sent me. 

87 The Father who sent me has also 
borne testimony to me himself; 
but his voice you have never heard, 

88 his form you have never seen, his 
word you have not kept with you, 

120 



because you do not believe him 
whom he sent. You search the 39 
scriptures, imagining you possess 
eternal life in their pages — and 
they do testify to me — but you 40 
refuse to come to me for life. I 41 
accept no credit from men, but I 42 
know there is no love to God in you ; 
here am I, come in the name of my 43 
Father, and you will not accept me : 
let someone else come in his own 
name, and you will accept him ! 
How can you believe, you who 44 
accept credit from one another in- 
stead of aiming at the credit which 
comes from the only God ? Do not 45 
imagine I am going to accuse you 
to the Father; Moses is your 
accuser, Moses who is your hope ! 
For if you believed Moses you 46 
would believe me, since it was of me 
that he wrote. But if you do not 47 
believe what he wrote, how will you 
ever believe what I say? " 

The Jews were amazed, saying, 15 
" How can this uneducated fellow 
manage to read?" Jesus told 16 
them in reply, " My teaching is not 
my own but his who sent me ; any- 17 
one who chooses to do his will, will 
understand whether my teaching 
comes from God or whether I am 
talking on my own authority. He 18 
who talks on his own authority 
aims at his own credit, but he who 
aims at the credit of the person 
who sent him, he is sincere, and 
there is no dishonesty in him. Did 19 
not Moses give you the Law ? — and 
yet none of you honestly obeys the 
Law. Else, why do you want to kill 
me ? " The crowd replied, " You 20 
are mad. Who wants to kill you ? " 
Jesus answered them, " I have only 21 
performed one deed, and yet you 
are all amazed at it. Moses gave 22 
you the rite of circumcision (not 
th^t it came from Moses, it came 



S. JOHN VI 



from your ancestors), and you will 
circumcise a man upon the sabbath. 

23 Well, if a man gets circumcised upon 
the sabbath, to avoid breaking the 
Law of Moses, are you enraged at 
me for curing, not cutting, the 
entire body of a man upon the 

24 sabbath ? Give over judging by 
appearances ; be just." ♦ 



OHAP. 



6 After this Jesus went off to the 
opposite side of the sea of Gahlee 

2 (the lake of Tiberias), followed by 
a large crowd on account of the 
Signs which they had seen him 

3 perform on sick folk. Now Jesus 
went up the hill and sat down 

4 there with his disciples. (The 
passover, the Jewish festival, was 

5 at hand.) On looking up and 
seeing a large crowd approaching, 
he said to Philip, " Where are we 
to buy bread for all these people 

6 to eat ? " (He said this to test 
Philip, for he knew what he was 

7 going to do himself.) Philip an- 
swered, " Seven pounds' worth of 
bread would not be enough for them, 
for everybody to get even a morsel." 

8 One of his disciples, Andrew the 
brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 

9 " There is a servant here, with five 
barley-cakes and a couple of fish; 
but what is that among so many ? " 

10 Jesus said, " Get the people to lie 
down." Now there was plenty of 
grass at the spot, so the men lay 
down, numbering about five thour 

11 sand. Then Jesus took the loaves, 
gave thanks to God, and distributed 
them to those who were reclining; 
so too with the fish, as much as 

12 they wanted. And when they were 
satisfied, he said to the disciples, 
** Gather up the pieces left over, 

* Restoring Til. 16-24 to this, its original 
position in the gospeL 



so that nothing may be wasted." 
They gathered them up, and filled 18 
twelve baskets with pieces of the 
five loaves left over from the meal. 
Now when the people saw the 14 
Sign he had performed, they said, 
" This really is the Prophet who is 
to come into the world ! " Where- 15 
upon Jesus perceived they meant to 
come and seize him to make a king 
of him; so he withdrew by himself 
to the hill again. 

When evening came, his disciples 16 
went down to the sea, and em- 17 
barking in a boat they started 
across the sea for Capharnahum. 
By this time it was dark, Jesus 
had not reached them yet, and the 18 
sea was getting up under a strong 
wind. After rowing about three 19 
or four miles they saw Jesus walking 
on the sea and nearing the boat. 
They were terrified, but he said to 20 
them, " It is I, have no fear " ; so 21 
they agreed to take him on board, 
and the boat instantly reached the 
land they were making for. 

Next day the crowd which had 22 
been left standing on the other side 
of the sea bethought them that 
only one boat had been there, and 
that Jesus had not gone aboard with 
his disciples, who had left by them- 
selves. So, as some boats from 23 
Tiberias had put in near the spot 
where they had eaten bread after 
the Lord's thanksgiving, and as 24 
the crowd saw that neither Jesus 
nor his disciples were there, they 
embarked in the boats themselves 
and made for Capharnahum in 
search of Jesus. When they found 25 
him on the other side of the sea, 
they said, " Rabbi, when did you 
get here ? " Jesus answered them, 26 
" Truly, truly I tell you, it is not 
because you saw Signs that you 
are in search of me, but because 

121 



S. JOHN VI 



you ate these loaves and had your 

27 fill. Work for no perishing food, 
but for that lasting food which 
means eternal life; the Son of 
man will give you that, for the 
Father, God, has certified him." 

28 Then they asked him, " What must 
we do to perform the works of 

29 God ? " Jesus replied to them, 
" This is the work of God, to believe 
in him whom God has sent." 

30 " Well then," they said, " what is 
the Sign you perform, that we may 
see it and believe you ? What work 

31 have you to show ? Our ancestors 
ate manna in the desert : as it is 
written, He gave them bread from 

32 heaven to eatJ'^ Then said Jesus, 
" What Moses gave you was not the 
bread from heaven ; it is my Father 
who gives you the real bread from 

33 heaven — for the bread of God is 
what comes down from heaven 

34 and gives life to the world." " Ah, 
sir," they said to him, " give us 

35 that bread always." Jesus said, 
" I am the bread of life ; he who 
comes to me will never be hungry, 
and he who believes on me will never 

36 be thirsty again. But, as I told 
you, though you have seen me, 

37 you do not believe. All those will 
come to me who are the Father's 
gift to me, and never will I reject 

38 one of them ; for I have descended 
from heaven not to carry out my 
own will but the will of him who 

39 sent me, and the will of him who 
sent me is that I lose none of those 
who are his gift to me, but that I 
raise them all up on the last day. 

40 It is the will of my Father that 
everyone who sees the Son and 
believes in him should possess 
eternal life, and that I should raise 
him up on the last day." 

41 Now the Jews murmured at him 
for saying, " I am the bread which 



has come down from heaven." 
They said, " Is this not Jesus the 42 
son of Joseph ? We know his father 
and mother. How can he claim 
now, ' I have descended from 
heaven ' ? " Jesus replied to them, 43 
" Stop murmuring to yourselves. 
No one is able to come to me 44 
unless he is drawn hy the Father 
who sent me (and I will raise him up 
on the last day). In the prophets 45 
it is written, and they will he all 
instructed by God ; everyone who has 
listened to the Father and learned 
from him, comes to me. Not that 46 
anyone has seen the Father — he 
only, who is from God, he has 
seen the Father. Truly, truly I 47 

tell you, the believer has eternal 
life. I am the bread of life. 48 
Your ancestors ate manna in the 49 
desert, but they died; the bread 50 
that comes down from heaven is 
such that one eats of it and never 
dies. I am the living bread which 51 
has come down from heaven; if 
anyone eats of this bread, he will 
live for ever; and more, the bread 
I will give is my flesh, given for the 
life of the world." 

The Jews then wrangled with one 52 
another, saying, " How can he give 
us his flesh to eat ? " So Jesus said 53 
to them, " Truly, truly I tell you, 
unless you eat the flesh of the Son 
of man and drink his blood, you 
have no life within you. He who 54 
feeds on my flesh and drinks 
my blood possesses eternal life 
(and I will raise him up on the last 
day), for my flesh is real food and 55 
my blood is real drink. He who 56 
feeds on my flesh and drinks my 
blood remains within me, as I 
remain within him. Just as the 57 
living Father sent me and I live by 
the Father, so he who feeds on me 
will also live by me. Such is the 5S 



S. JOHN VII 



bread which has come down from 
heaven : your ancestors ate their 
bread and died, but he who feeds 

59 on this bread will live for ever." 
This he said as he taught in the 
synagogue at Capharnahum. 

60 Now many of his disciples, on 
hearing it, said, " This is hard to 
take in I Who can listen to talk 

61 like this ? " Jesus, inwardly con- 
scious that his disciples were mur- 
muring at it, said to them, " So 

62 this upsets you ? Then what if you 
were to see the Son of man ascend- 
ing to where he formerly existed ? 

63 What gives life is the Spirit : flesh 
is of no avail at all. The words I 
have uttered to you are spirit and 

64 life. And yet there are some of 
you who do not believe " (for Jesus 
knew from the very first who the 
unbelieving were, and who was to 

65 betray him ; that was why* he said 
* No one is able to come to me unless 
he is allowed by the Father '). 

66 After that, many of his disciples 
drew back and would not associate 

67 with him any longer. So Jesus 
said to the twelve, " You do not 

68 want to go, too ? " Simon Peter 
answered him, " Lord, who are we 

69 to go to ? You have got words 
of eternal life, and we believe, 
we are certain, that you are the 

70 holy One of God." Jesus answered 
them, "Did I not choose you, the 
twelve? And yet one of you is 
a devil ! " 

71 (He meant Judas the son of Simon 
Iscariot; for Judas was to be- 
tray him — and he was one of the 
twelve.) 

CHAP. 

7 After this Jesus moved about 
in Galilee; he would not move in 

* Reading Sia tovto ikeyev, with e (so 
Blass and Merx), instead of fix^yev Sta rovro. 



Judaea, because the Jews were 
trying to kill him. 

Now the Jewish festival of booths 2 
was near, so his brothers said to 3 
him, " Leave this and go across 
into Judaea, to let your disciples 
witness what you can do; for no- 4 
body who aims at public recogni- 
tion ever keeps his actions secret. 
Since you can do these deeds, 
display yourself to the world " 
(for even his brothers did not 5 
believe in him). Jesus said to 6 
them, " My time has not come yet, 
but your time is always at hand; 7 
the world cannot hate you, but it 
hates me because I testify that 
its deeds are evil. Go up to the 8 
festival yourselves ; I am not going 
up to this festival, for my time has 
not arrived yet." So saying he 9 
stayed on in Galilee. But after his 10 
brothers had gone up to the festival, 
he went up too, not publicly but as 
it were privately. At the festival 11 
the Jews were looking for him, 
saying, " Where is he ? " And 12 
the crowd disputed about him 
hotly ; some said, " He is a good 
man," but others said, " No, he is 
misleading the people." For fear 13 
of the Jews, however, nobody spoke 
of him in public. 

When the festival was half over, 14 
Jesus went up to the temple and 
began to teach.f Then said some 25 
of the Jerusalemites, " Is this not 
the man they want to kill ? Yet 26 
here he is, opening his lips in 
public, and they say nothing to 
him ! Can the authorities have 
really discovered that he is the 
Christ ? No, we know where 27 
this man comes from; but when 
the Christ does come, no one will 
know where he comes from." So 28 
Jesus cried aloud, as he was teaching 
I See note, p. 121. 

123 



S. JOHN VIII 



in the temple, " You know me ? 
you know where I come from? 
But I have not come on my own 
initiative ; I am sent, and sent by 
Him who is real. You do not 

29 know Him but I know Him, because 
I have come from Him and He sent 

30 me." So they tried to arrest him; 
but no one laid hands on him, 
because his time had not come 

SI yet. Indeed many of the people 
believed in him, saying, " When 
the Christ does come, will he per- 
form more Signs than this man ? " 

82 The Pharisees heard the people dis- 
cussing Jesus in this way, so the high 
priests and Pharisees despatched 

83 attendants to arrest him. Then 
said Jesus, " I will be with you a 
little longer, then I go to Him who 

34 sent me ; you will search for me 
but you will not find me, and where 

35 I go, you cannot come." The Jews 
said to themselves, " Where is he 
going, that we will not find him? 
Is he off to the Dispersion among 
the Greeks, to teach the Greeks? 

36 What does he mean by saying, ' You 
will search for me but you will not 
find me, and where I go, you cannot 
come ' ? " 

37 Now on the last day, the great 
day, of the festival, Jesus stood and 
cried aloud, " If anyone is athirst, 
let him come to me and drink; 

38 he who believes in me — out of his 
body, as scripture says, streams of 

39 living water will flow " (he meant 
by this the Spirit which those who 
believed in him were to receive : — 
as yet there was no Spirit, because 

40 Jesus had not been glorified yet). 
On hearing this some of the people 

41 said, " This really is the Prophet " ; 
others said, " He is the Christ " ; 
but others said, " No, surely the 
Christ does not come from Galilee ? 

42 Does not scripture say it is from the 

124 



offspring of David, from David's 
village of Bethlehem, that the Christ 
is to come? " So the people were 43 
divided over him; some wanted to 44 
arrest him, but no one laid hands 
on him. Then the attendants went 45 
back to the high priests and the 
Pharisees, who asked them, " Why 
have you not brought him with 
you ? " The attendants replied, 46 
" No man ever spoke as he does." 
The Pharisees retorted, " Are you 47 
misled as well ? Have any of the au- 48 
thorities or of the Pharisees believed 
on him ? As for this mob, with its 49 
ignorance of the Law — it is ac- 
cursed ! " Nicodemus, one of their 50 
number (the same who had come 
to him before), said to them, " But 51 
surely our Law does not condemn 
the accused before hearing what 
he has to say and ascertaining his 
offence ? " They answered him, 52 
"And are you from Galilee, too? 
Search and you. '^lilK see" that no 
p^-ophet ever sg^gs from Galilee." 

[And every- one of them went 53 
home, but'vFesus weiifjii.to the Hill of 8 
Olives. Early in the morning he 2 
returned to the temple, the people 
all came to him, and he sat down 
and taught them. The scribes and 3 
Pharisees brought a woman who 
had been caught in the act of 
committing adultery, and making 
her stand forward they said to 4 
him, " Teacher, this woman was 
caught in the very act of commit- 
ting adultery. Now Moses has 5 
commanded us in the Law to stone 
such creatures; but what do you 
say ? " (They said this to test 6 
him, in order to get a charge 
against him.) Jesus stooped down, 
and began to write with his finger 
on the ground; but as they per- 7 
sisted with their question, he raised 
himself and said to them, " Let 



S. JOHN VIII 



the innocent among you throw the 

8 fii*st stone at her " ; then he stooped 
down again and wrote on the ground. 

9 And on hearing what he said, they 
went away one by one, beginning 
with the older men, till Jesus was 
left alone with the woman standing 

10 before him. Raising himself, Jesus 
said to her, " Woman, where are 
they? Has no one condemned 

11 you? " She said, "No one, sir." 
Jesus said, "Neither do I; be off, 
and never sin again."]* 

12 Then Jesus again addressed them, 
saying, " I am the light of the 
world : he who follows me will not 
walk in darkness, he will enjoy the 

13 light of life." So the Pharisees said 
to him, " You are testifying to 
yourself ; your evidenceisnotvalid." 

14 Jesus replied to them, " Though I 
do testify to myself, my evidence is 
valid, because I know where I have 
come from and where I am going 
to — whereas you do not know 
where I have come from or where 

15 I am going to. You judge by the 

16 outside. I judge no one ; and though 
I do judge, my judgment is true, 
because I am not by myself — there 
is myself and the Father who sent 

17 me. Why, it is written in your 
own Law that the evidence of two 

18 persons is valid : I testify to my- 
self, and the Father who sent me 

19 also testifies to me." " Where is 
your Father ? " they said. Jesus 
replied, " You know neither me nor 
my Father; if you had known me 
you would have known my Father 

20 also." These words he spoke in the 
treasury, as he was teaching in the 
temple, but no one laid hands on 
him, because his time had not come 
yet. 

• It fa uncertain to which, if any, of 
the canonical gospels this fragment of 
primitive tradition originally belonged. 



Then he said to them again, " I 21 
go away, and you will search for 
me, but you will die in your sin; 
where I go, you cannot come.'* 
So the Jews said, " Will he Idll 22 
himself? Is that why he says, 
* Where I go, you cannot come ' ? " 
He said to them, " You are from 23 
the world below, I am from the 
world above : you belong to this 
world, I do not belong to this world. 
So I told you, you would die in 24 
your sins; for unless you believe 
who I am, you will die in your 
sins." They said, " Who are you ? " 25 
Jesus replied, " Why should I talk 
to you at all ? I have a great deal 26 
to say about you and many a 
judgment to pass upon you; but 
he who sent me is true, and so I tell 
the world what I have learned from 
him." They did not understand 27 
he was speaking to them about the 
Father ; so Jesus said, " When you 28 
have lifted up the Son of man, you 
will know then who I am, and that 
I do nothing of my own accord, 
but speak as the Father has taught 
me. He who sent me is at my side ; 29 
he has not left me alone; for I 
ahvays do what pleases him." As SO 
he said this, a number believed in 
him. So Jesus addressed the Jews 31 
who had believed him, saying, " If 
you abide by what I say, you are 
really disciples of mine : you will 32 
understand the truth, and the truth 
will set you free." " We are 33 
Abraham's offspring," they re- 
torted, " w^e have never been slaves 
to anybody. What do you mean 
by saying, ' You \^t[11 be free ' ? " 
Jesus replied, " Truly, truly I tell 34 
you, everyone who commits sin is 
a slave. t Now the slave does not 35 

f Omitting ttjs afiaprias with D, some 
evidence from the Latin and Syriac 
versions, etc. It is a gloss which disturbs 
the sense of the passage. 

125 



S. JOHN IX 



remain in the household for all 
time; the son of the house does. 

36 So, if the Son sets you free, you 

37 will be really free. I know you 
are Abraham's offspring 1 Yet you 
want to kill me, since my word 
makes no headway among you ! 

88 I speak of what I have seen with 
my Father, and you act as you have 

39 learned from your father." They 
answered him, " Abraham is our 
father." " If you are Abraham's 
children," said Jesus, " then do as 

40 Abraham did ; but now you want 
to kill me — to kill a man who has 
told you the truth, the truth I 
have learned from God. Abraham 

41 did not do that. You do the deeds 
of your father." They said to him, 
•* We are no bastards : we have 

42 one father, even God." Said 
Jesus, " If God were your father, 
you would love me, for I came here 
from God; I did not come of my 
own accord, I was sent by him. 

43 Why do you not understand my 
speech? Because you are unable 

44 to listen to what I am saying. You 
belong to your father the devil, and 
you want to do what your father 
desires; he was a slayer of men 
from the very beginning, and he 
has no place in the truth because 
there is no truth in him : when he 
tells a lie, he is expressing his own 
nature, for he is a liar and the 

45 father of lies. It is because I tell 
the truth, that you do not believe 

46 me. Which of you can convict me 
of sin? If I tell the truth, why 

47 do you not believe me ? He who 
belongs to God listens to the words 
of God ; you do not listen to them, 
because you do not belong to God." 

48 The Jews retorted, " Are we not 
right in saying you are a Samaritan, 

49 you are mad ? " Jesus replied, 
*' I am not mad : I honour my 

126 



Father and you dishonour me. 
However, I do not aim at my own 50 
credit; there is One who cares for 
my credit, and he is judge. Truly, 51 
truly I tell you, if anyone holds to 
what I say, he will never see death." 
The Jews said to him, " Now we are 52 
sure you are mad. Abraham is 
dead, and so are all the prophets; 
and you declare, ' If anyone holds 
to what I say, he will never taste 
death ' ! Are you greater than 53 
our father Abraham ? He is dead, 
and the prophets are dead. Who 
do you claim to be ? " Jesus 54 
replied, " Were I to glorify myself, 
my glory would be nothing; it is 
my Father who glorifies me; you 
say ' He is our God,' but you do 53 
not understand him. I know him. 
Were I to say, ' I do not know 
him,' I would be a liar like your- 
selves; but I do know him and I 
hold to his word. Your father 56 
Abraham exulted that he was to 
see my Day : he did see it and he 
rejoiced." Then said the Jews to 57 
him, " You are not fifty years old, 
and Abraham has seen you ? "* 
" Truly, truly I tell you," said Jesus, 58 
" I have existed before Abraham 
was born." At this they picked up 59 
stones to throw at him, but Jesus 
concealed himself and made his 
way out of the temple. 

CHIP. 

As he passed along he saw a man 9 
who had been blind from his birth ; 
and his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, 2 
for whose sin — for his own or for 
his parents' — was he born blind ? " 
Jesus replied, " Neither for his 3 
own sin nor for his parents' — ^it 

* Reading eapaKcv a-e with t< and the 
Sinaitic Syriac, etc. — " le9on plus naturelle 
peut-etre que la le9on commune, mais qui a 
pu choquer, parce qu'elle semble mettre 
Abraham au-dessus du Christ " (Loisy). 



S. JOHN IX 



was to let the work of God be 

4 illustrated in him. While daylight 
lasts, we must be busy with the 
work of God : night comes, when 

5 no one can do any work. When 
I am in the world, I am light for 

6 the world." With these words he 
spat on the ground and made clay 
with the saliva, which he smeared 

7 on the man's eyes, saying, " Go and 
wash them in the pool of Siloam " 
(Siloam meaning ' sent '). So off 
he went and washed them, and 

8 went home seeing. Whereupon 
the neighbours and those to whom 
he had been a famihar sight as a 
beggar, said, " Is this not the man 

9 who used to sit and beg? " Some 
said, " It is " ; others said, " No, 
but it is Hke him." He said, " I 

10 am the man." So they asked him, 
" How were your eyes opened ? " 

11 He rephed, " The man they call 
Jesus made some clay and smeared 
my eyes with it and told me, 
' Go and wash them in Siloam ' ; 
so I went and washed them, and I 

12 got my sight." " Where is he ? " 
they asked ; he answered, " I do not 

13 know." They brought him be- 
fore the Pharisees, this man who 

14 had once been blind. Now it was 
on the sabbath day that Jesus 
had made clay and opened his eyes. 

15 So the Pharisees asked him again 
how he had regained his sight, and 
he told them, " He smeared some 
clay on my eyes, and I washed them, 

16 and now I can see." Then said 
some of the Pharisees, " This man 
is not from God, for he does not 
keep the sabbath " ; others said, 
*' How can a sinner perform such 
Signs ? " They were divided on 

17 this. So they asked the blind man 
once more, " What have you to say 
about him, for opening your eyes ?" 
The man rephed, " I say he is a 



prophet." Now the Jews would 18 
not believe he had been born blind 
and had regained his sight, till they 
summoned the parents of the man 
who had regained his sight and 19 
asked them, " Is this your son, 
the son you declare was born blind ? 
How is it that he can see now ? " 
His parents answered, " This is our 20 
son, and he was born blind; we 
know that. But how he can see 21 
to-day, we do not know, nor do 
we know who opened his eyes. 
Ask himself; he is of age, he can 
speak for himself." (His parents 22 
said this because they were afraid 
of the Jews; for the Jews had 
already agreed that anyone who 
confessed him to be Christ should 
be excommunicated. That was 23 
why the man's parents said, " He 
is of age, ask himself." ) So the 24 
man born blind was summoned a 
second time, and told, " Now give 
God the praise ; this man, we know 
quite well, is only a sinner." To 25 
which he replied, " I do not know 
whether he is a sinner; one thing 
I do know, that once I was bhnd 
and now I can see." " What did 26 
he do to you? " they said; " How 
did he open your eyes ? " He 27 
retorted, " I have told you that 
already, and you would not listen 
to me. Why do you want to hear 
it over again ? Do you want to be 
disciples of his ? " Then they 28 
stormed at him : " You are his 
disciple, we are disciples of Moses I 
We know God spoke to Moses, but 29 
we do not know where this fellow 
comes from." The man replied to 30 
them, " Well, this is astonishing I 
You do not know where he comes 
from, and yet he has opened my 
eyes ! God, we know, does not 31 
listen to sinners ; he listens to any- 
one who is devout and who obeys 

127 



S. JOHN X 



32 his will. It is unheard of, since 
the world began, that anyone should 

33 open a blind man's eyes. If this 
man were not from God, he could 

34 do nothing." They retorted, " And 
so you would teach us — you, born 
in utter depravity ! " Then they 

35 expelled him. Jesus heard that 
they had expelled him, and on 

36 meeting him he said, " You believe 
in the Son of man ? " * " Who is 
that, sir ? " said the man, " tell me, 

37 that I may believe in him." " You 
have seen him," Jesus said, " he 

38 is talking to you." He said, " I 
do believe. Lord " — and he wor- 

39 shipped him. Then said Jesus, 
"It is for judgment that I have 
come into this world, to make the 
sightless see, to make the seeing 

40 blind." On hearing this the 
Pharisees who were beside him 
asked, " And are we blind ? " 

41 Jesus replied, " If you were blind, 
you would not be guilty ; but, as it 
is, you claim to have sight— -and 
so your sin remains." "j* 

19 The Jews were again divided over 

20 these words. A number of them 
said, " He is mad. Why listen to 

21 him ? " Others said, " These are 
not a madman's words. Can a mad- 
man open the eyes of the blind ? " 

22 Then came the festival of Dedica- 
tion at Jerusalem; it was winter, 

23 and Jesus used to walk inside the 
temple, in the portico of Solomon. 

24 So the Jews gathered round him 
and asked, " How long are you 
going to keep us in suspense? If 
you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 

25 Jesus replied, " I have told you, 
but you do not believe; the deeds 
I do in the name of my Father 

26 testify to me, but you do not 

♦ Reading hvQpdmov instead of Qeov. 
t Transposing x. 19-29, for the sake of 
sequence, to the close of ch. ix. 
128 



believe, because you do not belong 
to my sheep. My sheep listen to 27 
my voice, and I know them and 28 
they follow me; and I give them 
eternal life; they will never perish 
and no one will tear them out 
of my hand. My Father who t 29 
gave me them is stronger than all, 
and no one can tear anything out of 
the Father's hand. 



Truly, truly I tell you, he who 10 
does not enter the sheepfold by 
the gate but climbs up somewhere 
else, he is a thief and a robber; 
he who enters by the gate is the 2 
shepherd of the sheep. The gate- 3 
keeper opens the gate for him, and 
the sheep listen to his voice; he 
calls his sheep by name and leads 
them out. When he has brought 4 
all his sheep outside, he goes in 
front of them, and the sheep follow 
him because they know his voice; 
they will not follow a stranger, 6 
they will run from him, because 
they do not know the voice of 
strangers." Jesus told them this 6 
allegory, but they did not under- 
stand what he was saying to them ; 
so he said to them again, " Truly, 7 
truly I tell you, I am the shepherd § 
of the sheep; all who ever came 8 
before me have been thieves and 
robbers — but the sheep would not 
listen to them. (I am the Gate; 9 
whoever enters by me will be saved, 
he will go in and out and find 
pasture.) The thief only comes 10 
to steal, to slay, and to destroy : 
I have come that they may have 
life and have it to the full. I am 11 

X Reading &s . . . fji^iQwy with A 1, 
the Syriac versions, etc. 

§ b TTOiyuV must be read here instead of 
7] dvpuy for the sake of the sense, although 
it seems to have been preserved by the 
Sahidic version alone. 



S. JOHN XI 



the good shepherd; a good shep- 
herd lays down his own Hfe for 

12 the sheep. The hired man, who 
is not the shepherd and does not 
own the sheep, deserts them when 
he sees the wolf coming; he runs 
away, leaving the wolf to tear and 

13 scatter them, just because he is 
a hired man, who has no interest 

14 in the sheep. I am the good 
shepherd, I know my sheep and 

15 my sheep know me (just as the 
Father knows me and I know the 
Father), and I lay down my life 

16 for the sheep. I have other sheep, 
too, which do not belong to this 
fold ; I must bring them also, and 
they will listen to my voice; so it 
will be one flock, one shepherd. 

17 This is why my Father loves me, 
because I lay down my life to take 

18 it up again. No one takes it from 
me, I lay it down of my own 
accord : I have power to lay it down 
and also power to take it up again ; 
I have my Father's command for 

30 this. I and my Father are one — ." 

31 The Jews again caught up stones 

32 to stone him. Jesus replied, " I 
have let you see many a good deed 
of God ; for which of them do you 

33 mean to stone me ? " The Jews 
retorted, " We mean to stone you, 
not for a good deed, but for blas- 
phemy, because you, a mere man, 

34 make yourself God." Jesus an- 
swered, " Is it not written in your 

35 Law, ' / said, you are gods ' ? If 
the Law said they were gods, to 
whom the word of God came — 
and scripture cannot be broken — 

^6 do you mean to tell me, whom the 
Father consecrated and sent into 
the world, ' You are blaspheming,' 
because I said, ' I am God's Son ' ? 

37 If I am not doing the deeds of my 

38 Father, do not believe me ; but if 
I am, then believe the deeds. 



though you will not believe m&— 
that you may learn and under- 
stand that the Father is in me and 
I am in the Father." Once more 39 
they tried to arrest him, but he 
escaped their hands and went 40 
across the Jordan, back to the spot 
where John had baptized at first. 
There he stayed ; and many came 41 
to him, saying, *' John did not 
perform any Sign, but all he ever 
said about this man was true." 
And many believed in him there. 42 



Now there was a man ill, 11 
Lazarus of Bethany — the village 
of Mary and her sister Martha. 
(The Mary whose brother Lazarus 2 
was ill was the Mary who anointed 
the Lord with perfume and wiped 
his feet with her hair.) Jesus 5 
loved Martha and her sister and 
Lazarus ; * so the sisters sent to 3 
him, saying, " Lord, he whom you 
love is ill." When Jesus heard it, 4 
he said, " This illness is not to end 
in death; the end of it is the glory 
of God, that the Son of God may 
be glorified thereby." So, when 6 
he heard of the illness, he stayed 
where he was for two days ; then, 7 
after that, he said to his disciples, 
" Let us go back to Judaea." 
" Rabbi," said the disciples, " the 8 
Jews were trying to stone you only 
the other day ; are you going back 
there ? " Jesus replied, " Are there 9 
not twelve hours in the day ? 

If one walks during the day he 
does not stumble, 
for he sees the light of this world : 

but if one v/alks during the night 10 
he does stumble. 



for the light is not in him." 

* I venture to restore ver. 5 to what 
appears to have been its original position 
between vers. 2 and 3. 

129 



S. JOHN XI 



11 This he said, then added, " Our 
friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; 
I am going to waken him.'* 

12 " Lord," said the disciples, " if he 
has fallen asleep, he will get better." 

13 Jesus, however, had been speaking 
of his death ; but as they imagined 

14 he meant natural sleep, he then 
told them plainly, " Lazarus is 

15 dead; and for your sakes I am 
glad I was not there, that you may 
believe. Come now, let us go to 

16 him." Whereupon Thomas (called 
* the Twin *) said to his fellow- 
disciples, " Let us go too, let us 
die along with him ! " 

17 Now when Jesus arrived, he 
found that Lazarus had been buried 

20 for four days.* Then Martha, 
hearing of the arrival of Jesus, 
went out to meet him, while Mary 

21 sat at home. Said Martha to 
Jesus, " Had you been here. Lord, 
my brother would not have died. 

22 But now — well, I know whatever 
you ask God for, he will grant you," 

23 Jesus said to her, " Your brother 

24 will rise again." " I know," said 
Martha, " he will rise at the re- 

25 surrection, on the last day." Jesus 
said to her, " I am myself resur- 
rection and life : 

he who believes in me will live, 
even if he dies, 

26 and no one who lives and believes 

in me will ever die. 

27 You believe that ? " " Yes, Lord," 
she said, " I do believe you are 
the Christ, the Son of God, who 

28 was to come into the world" — ^and 
with these words she went off to 
call her sister Mary, telling her 
secretly, " The Teacher is here, 

29 and he is calling for you." So, 
on hearing this, Mary rose hurriedly 

* Another case of displacement; vers. 
18 and 19 seem originally to have lain 
betweien vers. 30 and 31. 

130 



and went to him. Jesus had not 30 
entered the village yet, he was 
still at the spot where Martha had 
met him. Now as Bethany is not 18 
far from Jerusalem, only about two 
miles away, a number of Jews had 19 
gone to condole with Martha and 
Mary about their brother ; and when 31 
the Jews who were condoling with 
her inside the house noticed her 
rise hurriedly and go out, they fol- 
lowed her, as they imagined she was 
going to wail at the tomb. But when 32 
Mary reached Jesus she dropped 
at his feet, crying, "Had you 
been here. Lord, my brother would 
not have died." Now when Jesus 33 
saw her wailing and saw the Jews 
who accompanied her wailing, he 
chafed in spirit and was disquieted. 
" Where have you laid him ? " he 34 
asked. They answered, " Come and 
see, sir." Jesus burst into tears. 35 
Whereupon the Jews said, " See 36 
how he loved him ! " — ^though some 37 
of them asked, " Could he not have 
prevented him from dying, when 
he could open a blind man's eyes ? " 
This made Jesus chafe afresh, so 38 
he went to the tomb ; it was a cave 
with a boulder to close it. Jesus 39 
said, " Remove the boulder." 
" Lord," said Martha, the dead 
man's sister, " he will be stinking 
by this time; he has been dead 
four days." " Did I not tell you," 40 
said Jesus, " if you will only believe, 
you will see the glory of God ? " 
Then they removed the boulder, 41 
and Jesus, lifting his eyes to heaven, 
said, " Father, I thank thee for 
listening to me, (I knew thou 42 
wouldst always listen to me, but 
I spoke on account of the crowd 
around, that they might believe 
thou hast sent me.)" So saying, 43 
he exclaimed with a loud cry, 
" Lazarus, come out ! " Out came 44 



S. JOHN XII 



the dead man, his hands and feet 
swathed in bandages, and his face 
tied up with a towel. Jesus said, 
" Untie him, and let him move." 

45 Now a number of the Jews who 
had come to visit Mary and who 
witnessed what he had done, be- 

46 lieved in him. But some of them 
went off to the Pharisees and told 

47 them what Jesus had done ; where- 
upon the high priests and the 
Pharisees called a meeting of the 
Sanhedrin. " Whatever is to be 
done ? " they said. " The fellow is 

48 performing a number of Signs. If 
we let him alone, like this, every- 
body will believe in him, and then 
the Romans will come and sup- 
press our holy Place and our 

49 nation." But one of them, 
Caiaphas, who was high priest that 
year, said, " You know nothing 

50 about it — you do not understand 
it is in your own interests that one 
man should die for the People, 
instead of the whole nation being 

51 destroyed." (He did not say this 
simply of his own accord; he was 
high priest that year, and his words 
were a prophecy that Jesus was to 

52 die for the nation, and not merely 
for the nation but to gather into 
one the scattered children of God.) 

53 So from that day their plan was 

54 to kill him. Accordingly Jesus no 
longer appeared in public among 
the Jews, but withdrew to the 
country adjoining the desert, to a 
town called Ephraim; there he 
stayed with the disciples. 



55 Now the passover of the Jews 
was near, and many people went 
up from the country to Jerusalem, 
to purify themselves before the 

56 passover. They looked out for 
Jesus, and as they stood in the 



temple they said to one another, 
"What do you think? Do you 
think he will not come up to the 
festival ? " (The high priests and 57 
the Pharisees had given orders that 
they were to be informed, if any- 
one found out where he was, so that 
they might arrest him.) 

OHAP. 

Six days before the festival, 12 
Jesus came to Bethany, where 
Lazarus stayed (whom Jesus had 
raised from the dead). They gave 2 
a supper for him there; Martha 
waited on him, and Lazarus was 
among those who reclined at table 
beside him. Then Mary, taking 3 
a pound of expensive perfume, 
real nard, anointed the feet of 
Jesus and wiped his feet with her 
hair, till the house was filled with 
the scent of the perfume. One of 4 
his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who 
was to betray him), said, " Why was 5 
not this perfume sold for ten 
pounds, and the money given to the 
poor ? " (Not that he cared for 6 
the poor; he said this because he 
was a thief, and because he carried 
the money-box and pilfered what 
was put in.) Then said Jesus, 7 
" Let her alone, let her keep what 
she has for the day of my burial. 
You have always the poor beside 8 
you, but you have not always me." 

Now the great mass of the Jews 9 
learned he was there, and they 
came not only on account of Jesus 
but to see Lazarus whom he had 
raised from the dead. So the 10 
high priests planned to kill Lazarus 
as well, since it was owing to him 11 
that a number of the Jews went 
away and believed in Jesus. 

Next day the great mass of 12 
people who had come up for the 
festival heard that Jesus was enter- 
ing Jerusalem, and taking palm- 13 

131 



S. JOHN XII 



branches they went out to meet 
him, shouting, 
" H OS anna ! 
Blessed be he who comes in the 

14 Lord's name, 

the king of Israel I " 
And Jesus came across a young ass 
and seated himself on it; as it is 
written, 

15 Fear not, daughter of Sion ; 
here is your king coming, 
seated on an ass's colt. 

16 (His disciples did not understand 
this at first; but when Jesus was 
glorified, then they remembered 
this had been written of him and 

17 had happened to him.) Now the 
people who were with him when 
he called Lazarus from the tomb 
and raised him from the dead, 

18 testified to it; and that was why 
the crowd went out to meet him, 
because they heard he had per- 

19 formed this Sign. Then said the 
Pharisees to one another, " You 
see, you can do nothing! Look, 
the whole world has gone after 
him." 

20 Now there were some Greeks 
among those who had come up to 

21 worship at the festival ; they came 
to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee 
and appealed to him, saying, " Sir, 

22 we want to see Jesus." Philip 
went and told Andrew; Andrew 
and Philip went and told Jesus. 

23 And Jesus answered, " The hour 
has come for the Son of man to be 

24 glorified. Truly, truly I tell you, 
unless a grain of wheat falls into 
the earth and dies, it remains a 
single grain ; but if it dies, it bears 

25 rich fruit. He who loves his life 
loses it, and he who cares not for 
his life in this world will preserve 
it for eternal life. 

26 If anyone serves me, let him 

follow me, 
132 



and where I am, there my 
servant will be also : 

if anyone serves me, 

my Father will honour him. 

My soul is now disquieted. What 27 
am I to say ? ' Father, save me 
from this hour ' ? Nay, it is some- 
thing else that has brought me to 
this hour : I will say, ' Father, glorify 28 
thy name,' " Then came a voice 
from heaven, " I have glorified 
it, and I will glorify it again." 
When they heard the sound, the 29 
people standing by said it had 
thundered ; others said, " An angel 
spoke to him," Jesus answered, 30 
" This voice did not come for my 
sake but for yours. Now is this 31 
world to be judged ; now the Prince 
of this world will be expelled. 
But I, when I am lifted up from the 32 
earth, will draw all men to myself." 
(By this he indicated the kind of 33 
death he was to die.) So the 34 
people answered, " We have learned 
from the Law that the Christ is to 
remain for ever ; what do you mean 
by saying that the Son of man must 
be lifted up? Who is this Son of 
man ? " Then Jesus said to them, 35 
" The Light will shine among you 
for a little longer yet; walk while 
you have the Light, that the dark- 
ness may not overtake you. He 
who walks in the dark does not 
know where he is going. While 36 
you have the Light, believe in the 
Light, that you may be sons of 
the Light." * And Jesus cried 44 
aloud, " He who believes in me 
believes not in me but in him 
who sent me, and he who beholds 45 
me beholds him who sent me. I 46 
have come as light into the world, 
that no one who believes in me 
may remain in the dark. If any- 47 

* Restoring vers. 44-50 to their original 
position in the middle of vev. 36. 



S. JOHN XIII 



one hears my words and does 
not keep them, it is not I who judge 
him; for I have not come to judge 
the world but to save the world. 

48 He who rejects me and will not 
receive my words has indeed a 
judge : the word I have spoken 

49 will judge him on the last day, for 
I have not spoken of my own accord 
— ^the Father who sent me, he it 
was who ordered me what to say 

50 and what to speak. And I know his 
orders mean eternal life. Therefore 
when I speak, I speak as the Father 

36 has told me." With these words 
Jesus went away and hid from them. 

37 Now for all the Signs he had 
performed before them, they did 

38 not believe in him — that the word 
spoken by the prophet Isaiah 
might be fulfilled : 

Lord, who has believed what they 

heard from us ? 
And to whom has the arm of the 

Lord been revealed? 

39 This was why they could not 
believe; for Isaiah again said, 

40 He has blinded their eyes 

and made their hearts insensible, 
to prevent them seeing with their 
eyes and understanding with their 
hearts and turning for me to cure 
them. 

41 (Isaiah said this because he saw 

42 his glory and spoke of him.) Still, 
a number even of the authorities 
believed in him, though they would 
not confess it on account of the 
Pharisees, in case of being excom- 

43 municated ; they preferred the ap- 
proval of men to the approval of God. 



13 Now before the passover festival 
Jesus knew the time had come 
for him to pass from this world 
to the Father. He had loved his 
own in this world and he loved 



them to the end; so at supper, 2 
knowing that though the devil 
had suggested to Judas Iscariot, 
Simon's son, to betray him, the 3 
Father had put everything into 
his hands — ^knowing that he had 
come from God and was going to 
God, he rose from table, laid 4 
aside his robe, and tied a towel 
round him, then poured water into 5 
a basin, and began to wash the 
feet of the disciples, wiping them 
with the towel he had tied round 
him. He came to Simon Peter. 6 
" Lord," said he, " you to wash my 
feet ! " Jesus answered him, " You 7 
do not understand just now what 
I am doing, but you will understand 
it later on." Said Peter, " You 8 
will never wash my feet, never 1 " 
" Unless I wash you," Jesus repHed, 
" you will not share my lot." 
"Lord," said Simon Peter, "then 9 
wash not only my feet but my 
hands and head." Jesus said, " He 10 
who has bathed only needs to have 
his feet washed ; he is clean all over. 
And you are clean — but not all of 
you " (he knew the traitor; that 11 
was why he said, " You are not all 
clean "). Then, after washing their 12 
feet and putting on his robe, he 
lay down again. " Do you know," 
he said to them, " what I have been 
doing to you ? You call me Teacher 13 
and Lord, and you are right : that 
is what I am. Well, if I have washed 14 
your feet, I who am your Lord and 
Teacher, you are bound to wash 
one another's feet; for I have been 15 
setting you an example, that you 
should do what I have done to 
you. Truly, truly I tell you, a 16 
servant is not greater than his 
master, nor is a messenger greater 
than he who sent him. If you 17 
know all this, blessed are you if you 
really do it. When I say ' you,' 18 

133 



S. JOHN XV 



I do not mean you all ; I know the 
men of my choice, and I made my 
choice that this scripture might be 
fulfilled, he who eats my bread has 

19 lifted up his heel against me, I am 
telling you this now, before it 
occurs, so that when it has occurred 

20 you may believe who I am. (Truly, 
truly I tell you, 

he who receives anyone I send 

receives me, 
and he who receives me receives 

him who sent me.) " 

21 On saying this Jesus was disquieted 
in spirit : he testified and said, 
"Truly, truly I tell you, one of you 

22 will betray me." The disciples 
looked at each other, at a loss to 

23 know which of them he meant. As 
one of his disciples was reclining on 
his breast — he was the favourite of 

24 Jesus — Peter nodded to him, saying, 

25 " Tell us who he means." The disci- 
ple just leant back on the breast of 
Jesus and said, " Lord, who is it ? " 

26 Jesus answered, " The man I am 
going to give this piece of bread to, 
when I dip it in the dish." Then 
he took the piece of bread, dipped 
it, and gave it to Judas, the son 

27 of Simon Iscariot ; and when he 
took the bread, at that moment 
Satan entered him. Then Jesus 
told him, " Be quick with what 

28 you have to do." (None of those 
at table understood why he said 

29 this to him ; some of them thought 
that as Judas kept the money-box, 
Jesus told him to buy what they 
needed for the festival or to give 

80 something to the poor.) So Judas 
went out immediately after taking 
the bread. And it was night. 

81 When he had gone out, Jesus 
said,* 

♦ Chapters xv. and xvi. are restored 
to their original position in the middle of 
ver. 31. 
134 



OHAP. 

" I AM the real Vine, and my 15 
Father is the vine-dresser ; he cuts 2 
away any branch on me which is 
not bearing fruit, and cleans every 
branch which does bear fruit, to 
make it bear richer fruit. You 3 
are already clean, by the word I 
have spoken to you. Remain in 4 
me, as I remain in you : just as a 
branch cannot bear fruit by itself, 
without remaining on the vine, 
neither can you, unless you remain 
in me. I am the vine, you are the 5 
branches. He who remains in me, 
as I in him, bears rich fruit 
(because apart from me you can 
do nothing). If anyone does not 6 
remain in me, he is thrown aside 
like a branch and he withers up; 
then the branches are gathered 
and thrown into the fire to be 
burned. If you remain in me and 7 
my words remain in you, then ask 
whatever you like and you shall 
have it. As you bear rich fruit 8 
and prove yourselves my disciples, 
my Father is glorified. As the 9 
Father has loved me, so I have 
loved you ; remain within my love. 
If you keep my commands you 10 
will remain within my love, just 
as I have kept my Father's com- 
mands and remain within his love. 

I have told you this, that my 11 
joy may be within you and your 
joy complete. This is my com- 12 
mand : you are to love one another 
as I have loved you. To lay life 18 
down for his friends, man has no 
greater love than that. You are 14 
my friends — ^if you do what I 
command you ; I call you servants 15 
no longer, because a servant does 
not know what his master is doing : 
I call you friends, because I have im- 
parted to you all that I have learned 
from my Father. You have not 16 
chosen me, it is I who have chosen 



S. JOHN XVI 



you, appointing you to go and bear 
fruit — fruit that lasts, so that the 
Father may grant you whatever 

17 you ask in my name. This is what 
I command you, to love one another. 

18 If the world hates you, remember 

19 it hated me first. If you belonged 
to the world, the world would love 
what it owned; it is because you 
do not belong to the world, because 
I have chosen you from the world, 

20 that the world hates you. Re- 
member what I told you, ' A ser- 
vant is not greater than his 
master.' 

If they persecuted me, they will 

persecute you ; 
if they hold to my word, they will 

hold to yours. 

21 They will do all this to you on 
account of my name, because 
they know not him who sent me. 

22 They would not be guilty, if 
I had not come and spoken to 
them; but, as it is, they have 

23 no excuse for their sin — he who 
hates me hates my Father also. 

24 They would not be guilty, if I 
had not done deeds among them 
such as no one has ever done; 
but, as it is, they have seen — and 
they have hated — both me and 

25 my Father. It is that the word 
written in their Law may be ful- 
filled : they hated me for no cause. 



26 When the Helper comes, whom 
I will send to you from the Father, 
even the Spirit of truth which 
issues from the Father, he will 

27 bear witness to me ; and you too 
are witnesses, for you have been 
with me from the very beginning. 

16 I have told you all this, to keep 

2 you from being repelled. They val\ 

excommunicate you; indeed the 

time is coming when anyone who 



kills you will imagine he is perform- 
ing a service to God. This they 8 
will do, because they have not 
known the Father nor me. 

I have told you all this, so 4 
that when the time for it arrives, 
you may remember what I said to 
you. I did not tell you about this at 
the beginning, because I was with 
you then; but now I am going to 5 
him who sent me. And yet not 
one of you asks, ' Where are you 
going ? ' No, your heart is full 6 
of sorrow at what I have told you. 
Yet — I am telling you the truth — 7 
my going is for your good. If I 
do not depart, the Helper will not 
come to you ; whereas if I go, I will 
send him to you. And when he 8 
comes, he will convict the world, 
convincing men of sin, of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment : of sin, 9 
because they do not believe in 
me ; of righteousness, because I 10 
go to the Father and you see me 
no more; of judgment, because 11 
the Prince of this world has been 
judged. I have still much to say 12 
to you, but you cannot bear it 
just now. However, when the 13 
Spirit of truth comes, he will lead 
you all to the truth; for he will 
not speak of his own accord, he 
will say whatever he is told, and 
he will disclose to you what is to 
come. He will glorify me, for he 14 
will draw upon what is mine and 
disclose it to you. All that the 15 
Father has is mine ; that is why I 
say, ' he will draw upon what 
is mine and disclose it to you.' 
In a little while, you will behold 16 
me no longer; then, after a little, 
you will see me." So some of his 17 
disciples said to one another, 
" What does he mean by telling us, 
' In a little while, you ^vill behold 
me no longer ; then, after a little, 

135 



S. JOHN XIV 



you will see me * ? and, * I go to 

18 the Father ' ? " They said, " What 
is the meaning of 'In a little ' ? 
We do not understand what he is 

19 saying." Jesus knew they wanted 
to ask him, so he said to them, 
" Is this what you are discussing 
together, why I said, * In a little 
while, you will not see me : then, 
after a little, you will behold me ' ? 

20 Truly, truly I tell you, you will 
be wailing and lamenting while the 
world is rejoicing; you will be 
sorrowful, but then your sorrow 

21 will be changed into joy. When 
a woman is in labour she is sorry, 
for her time has come; but when 
the child is born she remembers 
her anguish no longer, for joy that 
a human being has been born into 

22 the world. So with you. Just 
now you are in sorrow, but I will 
see you again and your heart will 
rejoice — with a joy that no one 

23 can take from you. And on that 
day you will not ask me any 
questions. Truly, truly I tell you, 
whatever you ask the Father, he 

24) will give you in my name ; hitherto 
you have asked nothing in my name ; 
ask and you will receive, that your 

25 joy may be full. I have told you 
this in figures, but the time is 
coming when I will speak to you 
in figures no longer ; I will let you 
know plainly about the Father. 

26 On that day you will ask in my 
name, and I do not say to you 
I will ask the Father on your 

27 behalf ; for the Father loves you 
himself, because you have loved 
me and believed that I came forth 

28 from the Father. From the Father 
I came and I entered the world; 
again, I leave the world and I go 

29 to the Father." His disciples said, 
" Now, you are talking plainly at 

80 last, not speaking in figures. Now 
136 



we are sure you know everything, 
and we need not question you. 
This makes us believe you have 
come forth from God." Jesus 31 
replied, ** You believe it, at last ? 
Behold, the time is coming, it has 32 
come already, when you will be 
scattered to your homes, every one 
of you, leaving me alone. But I am 
not alone, for the Father is with me. 
I have said all this to you that in 33 
me you may have peace; in the 
world you have trouble, but courage I 
I have conquered the world.* 

" Now at last the Son of man is 31 
glorified, and in him God is glori- 
fied : if God is glorified in him, 32 
God will glorify him in Himself and 
glorify him at once. My dear chil- 33 
dren, I am only to be with you a little 
longer ; then you will look for me, 
and, as I told the Jews I tell you 
now, where I go you cannot come. 
I give you a new command, to 34 
love one another — as I have loved 
you, you are to love one another. 
By this everyone will recognize 35 
that you are my disciples, if you 
have love one for another." 
" Lord," said Simon Peter, " where 36 
are you going ? " Jesus replied, 
"I am going where you cannot 
follow me at present; later on 
you will follow me." " Lord," 37 
said Peter, " why cannot I follow 
you just now ? I will lay down my 
life for you." Jesus replied, " Lay 38 
down your life for me? Truly, 
truly I tell you, before the cock 
crows, you will have disowned 
me thrice over. 

CHAP. 

Let not your heart be dis- 14 
quieted; you believe — believe in 
God and also in me. In my 2 

* The sequence of xiii. 31 is now resumed 
(see above, note on p. 134). 



S. JOHN XIV 



Father's house there are many 
abodes; were it not so, would I 
have told you I was going to 

3 prepare a place for you ? And 
when I go and prepare a place for 
you, I will come back and take 
you to be with me, so that you 

4 may be where I am. And you 
know the way to where I am going." 

5 " Lord," said Thomas, " we do not 
know where you are going, and how 

6 are we to know the way ? " Jesus 
said to him, " I am the real and 
living way : no one comes to the 

7 Father except by means of me. If 
you knew me, you would know my 
Father too. You know him now 

8 and you have seen him." " Lord," 
said Philip, " let us see the Father ; 

9 that is all we want." Jesus said 
to him, " Philip, have I been 
with you all this time, and yet you 
do not understand me? He who 
has seen me has seen the Father. 
What do you mean by saying, 

10 ' Let us see the Father ' ? Do you 
not believe I am in the Father and 
the Father is in me? The words 
I speak to you I do not speak of 
my own accord; it is the Father 
who remains ever in me, who is 

11 performing his own deeds. Believe 
me, I am in the Father and the 
Father is in me : — or else, believe 
because of the deeds themselves. 

12 Truly, truly I tell you, he who 
believes in me will do the very 
deeds I do, and still greater deeds 
than these. For I am going to the 

13 Father, and I will do whatever 
you ask in my name, that the 
Father may be glorified in the 

14 Son; I will do whatever you ask 

15 me in my name. If you love me 

16 you will keep my commands, and 
I will ask the Father to give you 
another Helper to be with you for 

17 ever, even the Spirit of truth : the 



world cannot receive him, because 
it neither sees nor knows him, 
but you know him, because he 
remains with you and will be 
within you. I will not leave you 18 
forlorn; I am coming to you. A 19 
little while longer and the world 
will see me no more; but you 
will see me, because I am living 
and you will be living too. You 20 
will understand, on that day, that 
I am in my Father and you are 
in me and I am in you. He who 21 
possesses my commands and obeys 
them is he who loves me, and he 
who loves me will be loved by my 
Father, and I will love him and 
appear to him." " Lord," said 22 
Judas (not Judas Iscariot), " why 
is it that you are to appear to us, 
and not to the world ? " Jesus 23 
answered, " If anyone loves me he 
will obey my word, and my Father 
will love him, and we will come to 
him and take up our abode with 
him. He who does not love me 24 
does not obey my word ; and what 
you hear me say is not my word 
but the word of the Father who 
sent me. 

I have told you all this while 25 
I am still with you, but the 26 
Helper, the holy Spirit whom the 
Father will send in my name, will 
teach you everything and recall 
to you everything I have said. 
Peace I leave to you, my peace 27 
I give to you; I give it not as 
the world gives its ' Peace ! ' Let 
not your heart be disquieted or 
timid. You heard me tell you 28 
I was going away and coming 
back to you ; if you loved me, you 
would rejoice that I am going 
to the Father — for the Father is 
greater than I am. 

I tell you this now, before it occurs, 29 
so that, when it does occur, you may 

137 



S, JOHN XVII 



80 believe. I will no longer talk much 
with you, for the Prince of this 
world is coming. He has no hold 

81 on me; his coming will only serve 
to let the world see that I love the 
Father and that I am acting as the 
Father ordered. Rise, let us be 
going." 

CHAP. 

17 So Jesus spoke; then, lifting 
his eyes to heaven, he said : 
" Father, the time has now come ; 
glorify thy Son that thy Son may 

2 glorify thee, since thou hast 
granted him power over all flesh 
to give eternal life to all whom 

3 thou hast given to him. And this 
is eternal life, that they know 
thee, the only real God, and him 
whom thou hast sent, even Jesus 

4 Christ. I have glorified thee on 
earth by accomplishing the work 

5 thou gavest me to do ; now. 
Father, glorify me in thy presence 
with the glory which I enjoyed 
in thy presence before the world 

6 began. I have made thy Name 
known to the men whom thou hast 
given to me from the world (thine 
they were, and thou gavest them 
to me), and they have held to thy 

7 word. They know now that what- 
ever thou hast given me comes from 

8 thee, for I have given them the 
words thou gavest me and they 
have received them; they are 
now sure that I came from thee 
and that thou didst send me. 

9 I pray for them — ^not for the world 
but for those whom thou hast 
given me do I pray; for they are 

10 thine (all mine is thine and thine 
is mine), and I am glorified in 

11 them. I am to be in the world no 
longer, but they are to be in the 
world; I come to thee. Holy 
Father, keep them by the power 

138 



of thy Name which thou hast given 
me, that they may be one as we 
are one. When I was with them, 12 
I kept them by the power of thy 
Name which thou hast given me; 
I guarded them, and not one of 
them perished — only the son of 
perdition, that the scripture might 
be fulfilled. But now I come to 13 
thee (I speak thus in the world 
that they may have my joy com- 
plete within them). I have given 14 
them thy word, and the world 
has hated them because they do 
not belong to the world any more 
than I belong to the world. I 15 
pray not that thou wilt take them 
out of the world, but that thou wilt 
keep them from the evil one. They 16 
do not belong to the world any more 
than I belong to the world. Con- 17 
secrate them by thy truth : thy 
word is truth. As thou hast sent 18 
me into the world, so have I sent 
them into the world, and for their 19 
sake I consecrate myself that they 
may be consecrated by the truth. 

Nor do I pray for them alone, 20 
but for all who believe in me by 
their spoken word ; may they all 21 
be one ! As thou, Father, art 
in me and I in thee, so may they 
be in us — that the world may be- 
lieve thou hast sent me. Yea, I 22 
have given them the glory thou 
gavest me, that they may be one 
as we are one — I in them and thou 23 
in me — ^that they may be made 
perfectly one, so that the world 
may recognize that thou hast sent 
me and hast loved them as thou 
hast loved me. Father, it is my 24 
will that these, thy gift to me, may 
be beside me where I am, to behold 
my glory which thou hast given 
me, because thou lovedst me before 
the foundation of the world. O just 25 
Father, though the world has not 



S. JOHN XVIII 



known thee, I have known * thee, 
and they have known that thou 
26 hast sent me ; so have I declared, 
so will I declare, thy Name to 
them, that the love with which 
thou hast loved me may be in 
them, and I in them." 



18 Having said this, Jesus went 
out with his disciples across the 
Kidron ravine to an orchard, 
which he entered in the company 

2 of his disciples. Judas the traitor 
also knew the spot, for Jesus and 

3 his disciples often met there. So 
after procuring troops and some 
attendants belonging to the high 
priests and the Pharisees, Judas 
went there with lanterns and 

4 torches and weapons. Then Jesus, 
who knew everything that was to 
happen to him, came forward and 
asked them, " Who are you looking 

5 for? " " Jesus of Nazaret," they 
replied. Jesus said, " I am he." 
(And Judas the traitor was standing 

6 beside them.) When he said, " I 
am he," they fell back and dropped 

7 to the ground ; so he asked them 
once more, " Who are you looking 
for? " And when they replied, 

8 " Jesus of Nazaret," he answered, 
" I told you that I am he ; if it is 
me you are looking for, let these 

9 men get away " (this was to fulfil 
his own word : ' I did not lose a 
single one of those whom thou 

10 didst give me '). Then Simon 
Peter, who had a sword, drew it 
and struck the high priest's ser- 
vant, cutting off his right ear 
(the servant's name was Malchus) ; 

11 whereupon Jesus said to Peter, 

* The English perfect is the least inade- 
quate rendering of the Greek aorist here. 
Luther, however, prefers the present. " Ich 
kenne Dich, und diese erkennen. . , ,** 



" Sheathe your sword. Am I not 
to drink the cup which the Father 
has handed me ? " 

So the troops and their com- 12 
mander and the Jewish attendants 
seized Jesus, bound him, and 13 
brought him first of all to Annas 
(for Annas was the father-in-law 
of Caiaphas, who was high priest 
that year — the Caiaphas who had 14 
advised the Jews that it was for 
their interests that one man should 
die for the people). f Then the 19 
high priest questioned Jesus about 
his disciples and about his teaching. 
Jesus answered, " I have spoken 20 
openly to the world ; I have always 
taught in the synagogue and in 
the temple, where all Jews gather ; 
I have said nothing in secret. 
Why ask me ? Ask my hearers 21 
what I have said to them; they 
know what I said." As he said 22 
this, one of the attendants who 
stood by gave him a blow, saying, 
" Is that how you answer the high 
priest ? " " If I have said any- 23 
thing wrong," replied Jesus, " prove 
it; if I said what was true, why 
strike me?" Then Annas had 24 
him bound and sent him to Caiaphas 
the high priest. Simon Peter 15 
followed Jesus along with another 
disciple; and as this disciple was 
an acquaintance of the high priest, 
he passed into the courtyard of the 
high priest with Jesus, while Peter 16 
stood outside at the door. Then 
this other disciple, who was an 
acquaintance of the high priest, 
came out and spoke to the woman 
at the door, and brought Peter 
inside. The maidservant then said 17 
to Peter, " Are you not one of 
this fellow's disciples ? " He said, 
" No." Now the servants and the 18 

f Transposing vers. 19-24 to a position 
between vers. 14 and 15. 

139 



S. JOHN XIX 



attendants were standing and 
warming themselves at a charcoal 
fire which they had lit (for it was 
cold), and Peter also stood beside 

25 them and warmed himself. They 
asked him, " Are you not one of 
his disciples ? " He denied it, say- 

26 ing, " No." Said one of the high 
priest's servants, a kinsman of 
the man whose ear had been cut 
off by Peter, " Did I not see you 

27 with him in the orchard ? " Again 
Peter denied it. And at that very 
moment the cock crowed. 

28 Then from the house of Caiaphas 
they took Jesus to the praetorium. 
(It was early morning.) They 
would not enter the praetorium 
themselves, in case of being cere- 
monially defiled, for they wanted 

29 to eat the passover; so Pilate 
came outside to them and asked, 
" What charge do you bring against 

80 this man ? " They retorted, " If 
he had not been a criminal, we 
would not have handed him over 

31 to you." Then said Pilate, " Take 
him yourselves, and sentence him 
according to your own Law." The 
Jews said, " We have no right to 

32 put anyone to death " (that the 
word of Jesus might be fulfilled, 
by which he had indicated the 

33 kind of death he was to die). So 
Pilate went back inside the prae- 
torium and called Jesus, saying, 
" Then you are king of the Jews ? " 

34 Jesus replied, " Are you saying this 
of your own accord, or did other 

35 people tell you about me ? " " Am 
I a Jew?" said Pilate. "Your 
own nation and the high priests 
have handed you over to me. 

36 What have you done ? " Jesus 
replied, "My realm does not be- 
long to this world; if my realm 
did belong to this world, my men 
would have fought to prevent me 

KO 



being handed over to the Jews, 
No, my realm lies elsewhere." " So 87 
you are a king?" said Pilate, 
you ! " " Certainly," said Jesus, 
" I am a king. This is why I was 
born, this is why I came into the 
world, to bear testimony to the 
truth. Everyone who belongs to 
the truth listens to my voice." 
" Truth ! " said Pilate, " what 38 
is truth I " With these words he 
went outside to the Jews again 
and told them, " I cannot find 
anything wrong about him. But 89 
it is your custom that I should 
release a prisoner for you at the 
passover. Is it your will that I 
release j^ou the king of the Jews ? " 
Again they yelled, " No, not him ! 40 
Bar- Abbas ! " Now Bar- Abbas was 
a robber. 

CHAP. 

Then Pilate took Jesus and had 19 
him scourged. And the soldiers 2 
twisted some thorns into a crown 
and put it on his head, and arrayed 
him in a purple robe, marching 3 
to him and shouting, " Hail, king 
of the Jews ! " — and striking him. 
Again Pilate went out and said to 4 
them, " Look, I am bringing him 
out to you. Understand, I cannot 
find any thing wrong about him." So 5 
out came Jesus, wearing the crown 
of thorns and the purple robe ; and 
Pilate said, " Here the man * is ! " 
Now when the high priests and their 6 
attendants saw him, they yelled, 
" Crucify him, crucify him ! " 
Pilate said, " Take him and crucify 
him yourselves ! I find nothing 
wrong about him." The Jews re- 7 
torted, " But we have a Law, and 

♦ The unconscious force of Pilate's words, 
it has been suggested, might be brought out 
by rendering either " Here is (he man I ** 
or. " Here is the Man 1 " 



S. JOHN XIX 



by [our] Law he is bound to die, 
because he has made himself out 

8 to be God's Son." Now when 
Pilate heard that, he was still 

9 more afraid ; he went inside the 
praetorium again and asked Jesus, 
" Where do you come from ? " 

10 Jesus made no reply. Then Pilate 
said, " You will not speak to me ? 
Do you not know it is in my power 
to release you or to crucify you ? " 

11 Jesus answered, " You would have 
no power over me, unless it had 
been granted you from above. So 
you are less guilty than he who 

12 betrayed me to you." This made 
Pilate anxious to release him, but 
the Jews yelled, " If you release 
him, you are no friend of Caesar's ! 
Anyone who makes himself a king 

13 is against Caesar ! " On hearing 
this Pilate brought Jesus out and 
seated him on the tribunal at a 
spot called the ' mosaic pavement ' 

14) — the Hebrew name is Gabbatha (it 
was the day of Preparation for the 
passover, about noon). " There 
is your king ! " he said to the 

15 Jews. Then they yelled, " Off 
with him ! Off with him ! Crucify 
him!" "Crucify your king?" 
said Pilate. The high priests re- 
torted, " We have no king but 

16 Caesar ! " Then Pilate handed him 
over to them to be crucified. 

17 So they took Jesus, and he went 
away, carrying the cross by him- 
self, to the spot called the ' place 
of the skull ' — the Hebrew name 

18 is Golgotha ; there they crucified 
him, along with two others, one 
on each side and Jesus in the 

19 middle. Pilate had written an 
inscription to be put on the 
cross; what he wrote was, jesus 

THE NAZARENE, KING OF THE 

20 JEWS. Now many of the Jews 
read this inscription, for the place 



where Jesus had been crucified 
was close to the city; besides, the 
inscription was in Hebrew, Latin, 
and Greek. So the Jewish high 21 
priests said to Pilate, " Do not 
write, KING OF the jews; write, 

HE SAID I AM KING OF THE JEWS." 

Pilate repHed, " What I have 22 
written, I have written." 

Now when the soldiers crucified 23 
Jesus they took his clothes and 
divided them into four parts, one 
for each soldier. But as the tunic 
was seamless, woven right down 
in a single piece, they said to 24 
themselves, " Don't let us tear it. 
Let us draw lots to see who gets 
it " (that the scripture might be 
fulfilled, 

they distributed my clothes among 
them, 

and drew lots for my raiment). 
This was what the soldiers did. 

Now beside the cross of Jesus 25 
stood his mother and his mother's 
sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and 
Mary of Magdala. So when Jesus 26 
saw his mother and his favourite 
disciple standing near, he said to 
his mother, " Woman, there is 
your son ! " Then he siaid to the 27 
disciple, " Son, there is your 
mother ! '* And from that hour 
the disciple took her to his home. 
After that, as Jesus knew that 28 
everything was now finished and 
fulfilled, he said (to fulfil the scrip- 
ture), " / am thirsty J' A jug full 29 
of vinegar was lying there; so 
they put a sponge full of vinegar 
on a spear and held it to his lips. 
And when Jesus took the vinegar, 30 
he said, " It is finished," bowed 
his head, and gave up his spirit. 

Now, as it was the day of Prepara- 31 
tion, in order to prevent the bodies 
remaining on the cross during the 
sabbath (for that sabbath-day was 

141 



S. JOHN XX 



a great day), the Jews asked Pilate 
to have the legs broken and the 

82 bodies removed. So the soldiers 
went and broke the legs of the first 
man and of the other man who had 

83 been crucified along with him ; but 
when they came to Jesus and saw 
he was dead already, they did not 

84 break his legs ; only, one of the 
soldiers pricked his side mth a 
lance, and out came blood and 

85 water in a moment. He who saw 
it has borne witness (his witness 
is true; God knows he is telling 
the truth), that you may believe. 

86 For this took place that the scrip- 
ture might be fulfilled, 

Not a bone of him will be broken, 

87 And another scripture also says, 

They will look on him whom they 
have impaled, 

88 After this, Jjoseph of Arimathaea, 
a disciple of Jesus but a secret 
disciple — for fear of the Jews — 
asked Pilate for permission to 
remove the body of Jesus. And 
Pilate allowed him. So he went 

89 and removed the body, accom- 
panied by Nicodemus (he who had 
first come to Jesus by night) who 
brought a mixture of myrrh and 
aloes, about a hundred pounds of 

40 it ; they took and wrapped up the 
body of Jesus in the spices and in 
bandages, according to the Jewish 

41 custom of burial. Now at the 
spot where he had been crucified 
there was an orchard, and in the 
orchard a new tomb where no one 

42 had yet been laid ; so they put 
Jesus there, since it was the Jewish 
day of Preparation, seeing that 
the tomb was close by. 

OHAP. 

20 On the first day of the week Mary 
of Magdala went early to the tomb, 
when it was still dark; but as 
142 



she saw the boulder had been re- 
moved from the tomb, she ran off 2 
to Simon Peter and to the other 
disciple, the favourite of Jesus, 
telling them, " They have taken 
the master out of the tomb, and 
we do not know where they have 
put him ! " So Peter and the 8 
other disciple set out for the 
tomb; they both started to run, 4 
but the other disciple ran ahead, 
faster than Peter, and got to the 
tomb first. He glanced in and saw 5 
the bandages lying on the ground, 
but he did not go inside. Then 6 
Simon Peter came after him, and 
went inside the tomb; he noticed 
not only that the bandages were 
lying on the ground but that the 7 
napkin which had been round 
his head was folded up by itself, 
instead of lying beside the other 
bandages, tlpon this the other 8 
disciple, who had reached the tomb 
first, went inside too, and when 
he saw for himself he was con- 
vinced. (For as yet they did not 9 
understand the Scripture that he 
must rise from the dead.) Then 10 
the disciples returned home; but 11 
Mary stood sobbing outside the 
tomb. As she sobbed, she glanced 
inside the tomb and noticed two 12 
angels in white, sitting where the 
body of Jesus had lain, one at 
the head and one at the feet. 
" Woman," they said to her, " why 13 
are you sobbing ? " She said, 
" Because they have taken away 
my master, and I do not know 
where they have put him ! " With 14 
these words she turned round and 
noticed Jesus standing — though 
she did not know it was Jesus. 
" Woman," said Jesus, " why are 15 
you sobbing? Who are you look- 
ing for? " Supposing he was the 
gardener, she said, " Oh, sir, if 



S. JOHN XXI 



you carried him away, tell me 
where you put him, and I will 

16 remove him." " Mary ! " said 
Jesus. She started round and said, 
" Rabboni ! " (a Hebrew word 

17 meaning ' teacher '). Jesus said, 
" Cease clinging to me. I have 
not ascended yet to the Father, 
but go to my brothers and tell 
them, ' I am ascending to my 
Father and yours, to my God and 

18 yours.' " Away went Mary of Mag- 
dala to the disciples with the news, 
" I have seen the Lord ! " — ^telling 
them what he had said to her. 

19 On the evening of that same 
day — ^the first day of the week — 
though the disciples had gathered 
within closed doors for fear of the 
Jews, Jesus entered and stood 
among them, saying, " Peace be 

20 with you ! " So saying he showed 
them his hands and his side; and 
when the disciples saw the Lord, 

21 they rejoiced. Jesus then re- 
peated, " Peace be with you ! 
As the Father sent me forth, I am 

22 sending you forth." And with 
these words he breathed on them, 
and added, " Receive the holy 

23 Spirit ! If you remit the sins of 
any, they are remitted : if you 
retain them, they are retained." 

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, 
who was called ' the Twin,' was not 

25 with them when Jesus came; and 
when the rest of the disciples told 
him, " We have seen the Lord," 
he said, " Unless I see his hands 
with the mark of the nails, and put 
my finger where the nails were, 
and put my hand into his side, 

26 I refuse to beheve it." Eight 
days afterwards his disciples were 
together again, and Thomas with 
them. Though the doors were 
closed, Jesus entered and stood 
among them, saying, " Peace be 



with you I " Then he said to 27 
Thomas, " Look at my hands, put 
your finger here; and put your 
hand here into my side ; cease your 
unbelief and believe." Thomas 28 
answered him, " My Lord and my 
God ! " Jesus said to him, " You 29 
believe because you have seen me ? 
Blessed be those who believe though 
they have never seen me." 

Many another Sign did Jesus 30 
perform in presence of his disciples, 
which is not recorded in this book; 
but these Signs are recorded so 31 
that you may believe Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God, and believ- 
ing may have life through his Name. 

CHAP, 

After that, Jesus disclosed him- 21 
self once more to the disciples at 
the sea of Tiberias. It was in this 
way. Simon Peter, Thomas (who 2 
was called * the Twin '), Nathanael 
from Cana in Galilee, the two sons 
of Zebedaeus, and two other dis- 
ciples of his, were all together. 
Simon Peter said to them, " I am 3 
going to fish." They said, " We 
are coming too." Off they went 
and embarked in the boat, but that 
night they caught nothing. Now 4 
at break of day Jesus was standing 
on the beach (though the disciples 
did not know it was Jesus). 
" Lads," said Jesus, " have you 5 
got anything? " " No," they an- 
swered. So he told them, " Throw 6 
your net on the right of the boat, 
and you will have a take." At this 
they threw the net, and now they 
could not haul it in for the mass 
of fish. So the disciple who was 7 
Jesus' favourite said to Peter, " It 
is the Lord ! " Hearing it was the 
Lord, Simon Peter threw on his 
blouse (he was stripped for work) 
and jumped into the water, while 8 

143 



S. JOHN XXI 



the rest of the disciples came ashore 
in the punt (they were not far from 
land, only about a hundred yards), 
9 dragging their netful of fish. When 
they got to land, they saw a char- 
coal fire burning, with fish cooking 

10 on it, and some bread. Jesus said 
to them, " Bring some of the fish 

11 you have just caught." So Peter 
went aboard and hauled the net 
ashore, full of large fish, a hundred 
and fifty three of them; but for 
all their number the net was not 

12 torn. Jesus said, " Come and 
breakfast." (Not one of the dis- 
ciples dared to ask him who he 
was; they knew it was the Lord.) 

18 Jesus went and took the bread and 
gave it to them, and the fish too. 

14 This was the third time, now, that 
Jesus appeared to the disciples 
after rising from the dead. 

15 Then after breakfast Jesus said 
to Simon Peter, " Simon, son of 
John, do you love me more than 
the others do?" "Why, Lord," 
he said, " you know I love you." 
" Then feed my lambs," said Jesus. 

16 Again he asked him, for the second 
time, " Simon, son of John, do you 
love me?" "Why, Lord," he 
said, " you know I love you." 
" Then be a shepherd to my sheep," 

17 said Jesus. For the third time he 
asked him, " Simon, son of John, 
do you love me ? " Now Peter was 
vexed at being asked a third time, 
" Do you love me ? " So he replied ; 
" Lord, you know everything, you 



can see I love you." Jesus said, 
" Then feed my sheep. Truly, 18 
truly I tell you, you put on your 
own girdle and went wherever you 
wanted, when you were young ; but 
when you grow old, you will stretch 
out your hands for someone to gird 
you, and you will be taken where 
you have no wish to go " (he said 19 
this to indicate the kind of death 
by which Peter would glorify God) ; 
then he added, " Follow me." 
Peter turned round and saw that 20 
the favourite disciple of Jesus was 
following, the disciple who had 
leant on his breast at supper and 
put the question, " Lord, who is 
to betray you ? " So, on catching 21 
sight of him, Peter said to Jesus, 
" And what about him. Lord ? " 
Jesus replied, " If I choose that he 22 
should survive till I come back, what 
does that matter to you ? Follow me 
yourself." This started the report 23 
among the brotherhood that the said 
disciple was not to die. Jesus, how- 
ever, did not say he was not to die ; 
what he said was, " If I choose that 
he should survive till I come back, 
what does that matter to you ?" 

This was the disciple who bears 24 
testimony to these facts and who 
wrote them down; his testimony, 
we know, is true. 

Now there is much else that 25 
Jesus did — so much, that if it was 
written down in detail, I do not 
suppose the world itself could hold 
the written records. 



U4 



THE 



ACTS or THE APOSTLES 



CHAP. 

1 In my former volume, Theo- 
philus, I treated all that Jesus 

2 began by doing and teaching down 
to the day when, after issuing his 
orders by the holy Spirit to the 
disciples whom he had chosen, he 

3 was taken up to heaven. After 
his sufferings he had shown them 
that he was alive by a number of 
proofs, revealing himself to them 
for forty days and discussing the 

4 affairs of God's Realm. Also, as 
he ate with them, he charged them 
not to leave Jerusalem but to wait 
for what the Father promised — " for 
what you have heard me speak of," 

6 said he ; *' for John baptized with 
water, but not many days after this 
you will be baptized with the holy 

6 Spirit." Now when they met, they 
asked him, ** Lord, is this the time 
you are going to restore the Realm 

7 to Israel ? " But he told them, " It 
is not for you to know the course and 
periods of time that the Father has 

8 fixed by his own authority. You will 
receive power when the holy Spirit 
comes upon you, and you will be 
my witnesses at Jerusalem, through- 
out all Judaea and Samaria, and 

9 to the end of the earth." On saying 
this he was lifted up while they 
looked on, and a cloud took him 

10 out of sight. As he went up, their 
eyes were fixed on heaven; but 
just then two men stood beside 

11 them dressed in white, who said, 
** Men of GaUlee, why do you stand 
looking up to heaven ? This Jesus 



who has been taken from you into 
heaven will come back, just as you 
have seen him depart to heaven." 
Then they made their way back 12 
to Jerusalem from the hill called 
* The Olive-Orchard ' ; it is close 
to Jerusalem, only a sabbath day's 
journey from it. On entering the 13 
city they went to the upper room 
where they were in the habit of 
meeting; there were Peter, John, 
James, Andrew, Philip and Thomas, 
Bartholomew and Matthew, James 
(the son of Alphaeus) and Simon 
who had been a Zealot, with Judas 
the son of James. All these men 14 
resorted with one mind to prayer, 
together with the women, with 
Mary the mother of Jesus and with 
his brothers. 

Now during these days Peter 15 
stood up among the brothers (there 
was a crowd of about a hundred and 
twenty persons all together). " My 16 
brothers," said he, " it had to be 
fulfilled, that scripture which the 
holy Spirit uttered beforehand by 
the lips of David with regard to 
Judas who acted as guide to those 
who arrested Jesus. Judas did 17 
enter our number, he did get his 
allotted share of this our ministry. 
With the money paid him for 18 
his crime he purchased an estate; 
but swelling up he burst in tw^o, 
and all his bowels poured out — a 19 
fact which became known to all 
the residents in Jerusalem, so 
that the estate got the name, in 

M5 



THE ACTS II 



their language, of Akeldamach 

20 or The Ground of Blood. Now 
it is written in the book of 
psalms, 

Desolate he his residencey 
may no one dwell in it : 
also, 

let another man take over his 
charge, 

21 Well then, of the men who have 
been associated with us all the 
time the Lord Jesus went in and out 

22 among us, from the baptism of 
John down to the day when he was 
taken up from us — of these men 
one must join us as a witness to his 

23 resurrection." So they brought 
forward two men, Joseph called 
Bar-Sabbas (surnamed Justus) and 

24 Matthias ; and they prayed, " O 
Lord, who readest the hearts of 
all, do thou single out from these 
two men him whom thou hast 

25 chosen to fill the place in this 
apostolic ministry which Judas left 
in order to go to his own place." 
Then they cast lots for them, and 
the lot fell upon Matthias, who was 
assigned his position with the 
eleven apostles. 



2 During the course of the day 
of Pentecost they were all to- 

2 gether, when suddenly there came 
a sound from heaven like a violent 
blast of wind, which filled the 
whole house where they were 

3 seated. They saw tongues like 
flames distributing themselves, one 

4 resting on the head of each, and 
they were all filled with the holy 
Spirit — ^they began to speak in 
foreign tongues, as the Spirit en- 
abled them to express themselves. 

5 Now there were devout Jews from 
every nation under heaven staying 

6 in Jerusalem. So when this sound 

146 



was heard, the multitude gathered 
in bewilderment, for each heard 
them speaking in his own language. 
All were amazed and astonished. 
" Are these not all Galileans," they 7 
said, " who are speaking ? Then 8 
how is it that each of us hears them 
in his own native tongue? Par- 9 
thians, Medes, Elamites, residents 
in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and 
Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in 10 
Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt 
and the districts of Libya round 
Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews 
and proselytes, Cretans and Ara- 11 
bians, we hear these men talking 
of the triumphs of God in our 
own languages ! " They were all 12 
amazed and quite at a loss. " What 
can it mean ? " they said to one 
another. Some others sneered, 13 
" They are brim-full of new wine ! " 
But Peter stood up along with the 14 
eleven, and raising his voice he 
addressed them thus : " Men of 
Judaea and residents in Jerusalem, 
let every one of you understand 
this — attend to what I say : these 15 
men are not drunk, as you imagine. 
Why, it is only nine in the morning ! 
No, this is what was predicted by 16 
the prophet Joel — 

Jii the last days, saith God, then 17 
will I pour out my Spirit upon 
all flesh, 

your sons and daughters shall 
prophesy, 

your young men shall see visions, 

your old men shall dream dreams : 

on my very slaves and slave- girls 18 
in these days will I pour out my 
Spirit, 

and they shall prophesy. 

And I will display wonders in 19 
heaven above 
and signs on earth below, 

blood and fire and vapour of 
smoke t 



THE ACTS II 



20 the sun shall be changed into 

darkness 
and the moon into blood, 
ere the great, open Day of the Lord 

arrives. 

21 And everyone who invokes the 

name of the Lord will be saved. 

22 Men of Israel, listen to my words. 
Jesus the Nazarene, a man ac- 
credited to you by God through 
miracles, wonders, and signs which 
God performed by him among you 

23 (as you yourselves know), this 
Jesus, betrayed in the predestined 
course of God's deliberate purpose, 
you got wicked men to nail to the 

24 cross and murder; but God raised 
him by checking the pangs of 
death. Death could not hold him. 

25 For David says of him, 

I saw the Lord before me ever- 
more ; 
lest I be shaken, he is at my right 
hand. 

26 My heart is glad, 
my tongue exults, 

my very flesh will rest in hope, 

27 because thou wilt not forsake my 

soul in the grave, 
nor let thy holy one suffer decay. 

28 Thou hast made known to me the 

paths of life, 
thou wilt fill me with delight in thy 
presence. 

29 Brothers, I can speak quite plainly 
to you about the patriarch David ; 
he died and was buried and his 
tomb remains with us to this day. 

30 (He was a prophet; he knew God 
had sworn an oath to him that he 
would seat one of his descendants 

SI on his throne ; * so he spoke with a 
prevision of the resurrection of the 
Christ, when he said that he was 
not forsaken in the grave nor did 

32 his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus 

* Omitting [rb Kark ffdpKa kvaffr-fiffeiy rhy 
Xptarhy}' 



God raised, as we can all bear 
witness. Uplifted then by God's 33 
right hand, and receiving from the 
Father the long-promised holy 
Spirit, he has poured on us what 
you now see and hear.) For it was 34 
not David who ascended to heaven, 
David says, 

The Lord said to my Lord, * Sit at 

my right hand, 
till I put your enemies under 35 

your feet '. 
So let all the house of Israel under- 36 
stand beyond a doubt that God 
has made him both Lord and Christ, 
this very Jesus whom you have 
crucified." When they heard this, 37 
it went straight to their hearts; 
they said to Peter and the rest of 
the apostles, " Brothers, what are 
we to do ? " " Repent," said Peter, 38 
" let each of you be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
mission of your sins; then you 
will receive the gift of the holy 
Spirit. For the promise is meant 39 
for you and for your children and 
for all who are far off, for anyone 
whom the Lord our God may call to 
himself.'^ And with many another 40 
appeal he urged and entreated 
them. " Save yourselves," he 
cried, " from this crooked genera- 
tion ! " So those who accepted 41 
what he said were baptized ; about 
three thousand souls were brought 
in, that day. They devoted them- 42 
selves to the instruction given by 
the apostles and to fellowship, 
breaking bread and praying to- 
gether. Awe fell on everyone, 43 
and many wonders and signs were 
performed by the apostles [in 
Jerusalem]. The believers f all 44 
kept together ; they shared all they 45 
had with one another, they would 
sell their possessions and goods 

t Omitting [<p6$05 re -^v fiiyas ivl iravras]. 

147 



THE ACTS III 



and distribute the proceeds among 
all, as anyone might be in need. 

46 Day after day they resorted with one 
accord to the temple and broke bread 
together in their own homes ; they 
ate with a glad and simple heart, 

47 praising God and looked on with 
favour by all the people. Mean- 
time the Lord added the saved 
daily to their number.* 

CHAP. 

3 Peter and John were on their 
way up to the temple for the hour 
of prayer at three in the afternoon, 

2 when a man lame from birth was 
carried past, who used to be laid every 
day at what was called the ' Beauti- 
ful Gate ' of the temple, to ask alms 
from those who entered the temple. 

3 When he noticed that Peter and John 
meant to go into the temple, he 

4 asked them for alms. Peter looked 
at him steadily, as did John, and 

5 said, " Look at us." The man 
attended, expecting to get some- 

6 thing from them. But Peter said, 
*' I have no silver or gold, but I will 
give you what I do have. In the 
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, 

7 [get up and] walk ! " And catch- 
ing him by the right hand he raised 
him. Instantly his feet and ankles 

8 grew strong, he leapt to his feet, 
started to walk, and accompanied 
them into the temple, walking, 

9 leaping, and praising God. When 
all the people saw him walking and 

10 praising God, and when they recog- 
nized this was the very man who 
used to sit and beg at the Gate 
Beautiful, they were lost in awe 
and amazement at what had hap- 

11 pened to him. As he clung to 
Peter and John, all the people 
rushed awestruck to them in what 

* Omitting [rfi ^«:K\7j«rtqt], although the 
omission makes it difficult to get the above 
sense, or indeed any. out of the Greek. 
148 



was called Solomon's portico. But 12 
when Peter saw this, he said to the 
people, " Men of Israel, why are 
you surprised at this? Why do 
you stare at us, as if we had made 
him walk by any power or piety of 
ours ? The God of Abraham and 13 
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, 
the God of our fathers has glorified 
Jesus his servant, whom you de- 
livered up and repudiated before 
Pilate. Pilate had decided to re- 
lease him, but you repudiated the 14 
Holy and Just One ; the boon you 
asked was a murderer, and you killed 15 
the pioneer of Life. But God raised 
him from the dead, as we can bear 
witness. (He it is who has given 16 
strength to this man whom you see 
and know, by faith in His name ; it 
is the faith He inspires which has 
made this man hale and whole 
before you all.) Now I know, 17 
brothers, that you acted in ignor- 
ance, like your rulers — ^though this 18 
was how God fulfilled what he had 
announced beforehand by the lips 
of all the prophets, namely the 
sufferings of his Christ. Repent 19 
then, and turn to have your sins 
blotted out, so that a breathing- 
space may be vouchsafed you, and 20 
that the Lord may send Jesus your 
long-decreed Christ, who must be 21 
kept in heaven till the period of 
the great Restoration. Ages ago 
God spoke of this by the lips of his 
holy prophets; for Moses said, 22 
The Lord our God will raise up 
a prophet for you from among 
your brotherhood, as he raised 
me : 
you must listen to whatever he 
may tell you. 
Any soul that will not listen to 23 
this prophet will be exter- 
minated from the People ; 
and all the prophets who have 24 



THE ACTS IV 



spoken since Samuel and his suc- 
cessors have also announced these 

25 days. Now you are the sons of 
the prophets and of the covenant 
which God made with your fathers 
when he said to Abraham, all 
families on earth shall be blessed in 

26 your offspring. It was for you 
first that God raised up his Servant, 
and sent him to bless you by turn- 
ing each of you from your wicked 
ways." 

4 While they were speaking to 
the people, they were surprised by 
the priests, the commander of the 

2 temple, and the Sadducees, who 
were annoyed at them teaching the 
people and proclaiming Jesus as 
an instance of resurrection from 

3 the dead. They laid hands on 
them and, as it was now evening, 
put them in custody till next morn- 

4 ing. (A number of those who heard 
them speak believed, bringing up 
their numbers to [about] five 
thousand.) 

5 Next morning a meeting was held 
in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders 

6 and scribes, which was attended by 
the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, 
John, Alexander, and all the mem- 
bers of the high priest's family. 

7 They made the men stand before 
them and inquired, " By what 
authority, in whose name, have you* 

8 done this ? " Then Peter, filled with 
the holy Spirit, said to them : 
•* Rulers of the people and elders 

9 of Israel, if we are being cross- 
examined to-day upon a benefit 
rendered to a cripple, upon how 

10 this man got better, you and the 
people of Israel must all understand 
that he stands before you strong 

* With a touch of superciliousness (' men 
like you ! '), which is perhaps better ex- 
pressed in reading aloud than by any verbal 
periphrasis. 



and well, thanks to the name of 
Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom 
you crucified and whom God raised 
from the dead. He is 11 

the stone despised by you builders^ 
which has become head of the 
corner. 
There is no salvation by anyone 12 
else, nor even a second Name under 
heaven appointed for us men and 
our salvation." They were aston- 18 
ished to notice how outspoken Peter 
and John were, and to discover that 
they were uncultured persons and 
mere outsiders; they recognized 
them as having been companions 
of Jesus, but as they saw the man 14 
who had been healed standing be- 
side them, they could say nothing. 
Ordering them to withdraw from 15 
the Sanhedrin, they proceeded to 
hold a consultation; " What are 16 
we to do with these men ? " they 
said. " It is plain to all the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem that a 
miracle has admittedly been worked 
by them. That we cannot deny. 
However, to keep things from 17 
going any further with the people, we 
had better threaten them that they 
are not to tell anyone in future about 
this Name." So they called the men 18 
in and ordered them not to speak or 
teach a single sentence about the 
Name of Jesus. But Peter and 19 
John replied, " Decide for your- 
selves whether it is right before 
God to obey you rather than God. 
Certainly we cannot give up speak- 20 
ing of what we have seen and 
heard." Then they threatened 21 
them still further and let them 
go ; on account of the people they 
found themselves unable to get any 
way of punishing them, for every 
body was glorifying God over what 
had happened (the man on whom 22 
this miracle of healing had been 

149 



THE ACTS V 



performed, being more than forty 
years old). 
28 On being released they went 
to their friends and related what 
the high priests and elders had 

24 said ; and on hearing this the 
entire company raised their cry 
to God, " O Sovereign Lord, thou 
art he * who made heaven, earth, 

25 and sea, and all that in them is, who 
said to our fathers t by the holy 
Spirit through the lips of thy servant 
David, 

Why did the Gentiles rage, 

and the peoples vainly conspire ? 

26 The kings of the earth stood ready, 
the rulers mustered together 

against the Lord and his Christ. 

27 In this very city they actually 
mustered against thy holy Servant 
Jesus, whom thou didst consecrate 

Herod and Pontius Pilate, to- 
gether with the Gentiles and the 

28 peoples of Israel, mustering to carry 
out what thy hand had traced, 

29 thy purpose had decreed. So now, 
O Lord, consider the threats of 
these men, and grant that thy 
servants may be perfectly fearless 

30 in speaking thy word, when thy 
hand is stretched out to cure and 
to perform miracles and wonders 
by the name of thy holy Servant 

31 Jesus." At their prayer the place 
of meeting was shaken, and they 
were all filled with the holy Spirit, 
speaking God's word fearlessly; 

33 the apostles gave their testimony 
to the resurrection of the Lord 
Jesus with great power, and great 
grace was upon them all. J 

82 Now there was but one heart 

• Omitting [6 ©ebjl 

t Accepting Hort s suggestion that rov 
irarpos is a corruption of rdls irarpdcriv, 
though the text even then seems to 
include a gloss somewhere. 

X Transposing ver. 33 to its original 
position after ver. 31. 
160 



and soul among the whole of the 
believers; not one of them con- 
sidered anything his personal pro- 
perty, they shared all they had 
with one another. There was not 34 
a needy person among them, for 
those who owned land or houses 
would sell them and bring the 
proceeds of the sale, laying the 35 
money before the feet of the 
apostles ; it was then distributed ac- 
cording to each individual's need. 
Thus Joseph, who was surnamed 36 
Barnabas or (as it may be trans- 
lated) ' Son of Encouragement ' by 
the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote 
birth, sold a farm belonging to him 37 
and brought the money, which he 
placed before the feet of the apostles. 
But a man called Ananias, who 5 
with his wife Sapphira had sold some 
property, embezzled some of the 2 
purchase-money with the conniv- 
ance of his wife; he only brought 
part of it to lay before the feet 
of the apostles. " Ananias," said 3 
Peter, " why has Satan filled your 
heart and made you cheat the holy 
Spirit by embezzling some of the 
money paid for the land ? When it 4 
remained unsold, did it not remain 
your own ? And even after the sale, 
was the money not yours to do as 
you pleased about it ? How could 
you think of doing a thing like this ? 
You have not defrauded men but 
God." When Ananias heard this, 5 
he fell down and expired. (Great 
awe came over all who heard of it.) 
And the younger men rose, wrapped 6 
the body up and carried it away to 
be buried. After an interval of 7 
about three hours his wife happened 
to come in, quite unconscious of 
what had occurred. " Tell me," 8 
said Peter, " did you only sell the 
land for such and such a sum ? " 
" Yes," she said, " that was all we 



THE ACTS V 



9 sold it for." Peter said to her, 
" How could you arrange to put 
the Lord's Spirit to the proof? 
Listen, there are the footsteps of 
the men who have buried your hus- 
band ! They are at the door, and 
they will carry you out as well." 

10 Instantly she fell down at their 
feet and expired. The younger 
men came in to find her dead ; they 
carried her out and buried her 

11 beside her husband. Great awe 
came over the whole church and 
over all who heard about this. 

12 Now they all without exception 
met in the portico of Solomon. 

13 Though the people extolled them, 
not a soul from the outside dared 

14 to join them. On the other hand, 
crowds of men and women who 
believed in the Lord were brought 

12 in. Many miracles and wonders 

were performed among the people 

15 by the apostles.* In fact, invalids 
were actually carried into the 
streets and laid on beds and 
mattresses, so that, when Peter 
passed, his shadow at anyrate 
might fall on one or other of them. 

16 Crowds gathered even from the 
towns round Jerusalem, bringing 
invalids and people troubled with 
unclean spirits, all of whom were 
healed. 

17 This filled the high priest Annas t 
and his allies, the Sadducean party, 

18 with bitter jealousy; they laid 
hands on the apostles and put 

19 them into the public prison, but 
an angel of the Lord opened the 
prison-doors during the night and 

20 brought them out, saying, ** Go 
and stand in the temple, telling 

* Transposing the first clause of ver. 12 
to the beginning of ver. 15. 

t Blass's brilliant conjecture for the 
avaffrds of the ordinary text. It is not 
entirely without manuscript evidence. 



the people all about this Life.** 
With these orders they went into 21 
the temple about dawn and pro- 
ceeded to teach. Meantime the 
high priest and his allies met, called 
the Sanhedrin together and the 
council of seniors belonging to the 
sons of Israel, and then sent to 
prison for the men. But as the 22 
attendants did not find them when 
they got to the prison, they came 
back to report, " We found the prison 23 
safely locked up, with the sentries 
posted at the doors, but on opening 
the doors we found no one inside ! " 
On hearing this the commander 24 
of the temple and the high priests 
were quite at a loss to know what 
to make of it. However, someone 25 
came and reported to them, " Here 
are the very men you put in prison, 
standing in the temple and teach- 
ing the people ! " At this the 26 
commander went off with the 
attendants and fetched them — but 
without using violence, for fear that 
the people would pelt them with 
stones. They conducted them be- 27 
fore the Sanhedrin, and the high 
priest asked them, " We strictly 28 
forbade you to teach about this 
Name, did we not? And here 
you have filled Jerusalem with your 
doctrine ! You want to make us 
responsible for this man's death ! " 
Peter and the apostles answered, 29 
" One must obey God rather than 
men. The God of our fathers 30 
raised Jesus whom you murdered 
by hanging him on a gibbet. God 31 
lifted him up to his right hand as 
our pioneer and saviour, in order 
to grant repentance and remission 
of sins to Israel. To these facts 32 
we bear witness, with the holy 
Spirit which God has given to 
those who obey him." When they S3 
beard this, they were so furious 

161 



THE ACTS VI 



that they determined to make 
84 away with the apostles. But a 
Pharisee in the Sanhedrin called 
Gamahel, a doctor of the Law who 
was highly respected by all the 
people, got up and ordered the 
prisoners to be removed for a few 

35 moments. Then he said, " Men 
of Israel, take care what you do 

36 about these men. In days gone 
by Theudas started up, claiming 
to be a person of importance; a 
number of men, about four hundred 
of them, rallied to him, but he was 
slain, and all his followers were 

37 dispersed and wiped out. After 
him Judas the Galilean started up 
at the time of the census, and got 
people to desert to him; but he 
perished too, and all his followers 

38 were scattered. So I advise you 
to-day to leave these men to them- 
selves. Let them alone. If this 
project or enterprise springs from 

39 men, it will collapse; while, if it 
really springs from God, you will be 
unable to put them down. You 
may even find yourselves fighting 

40 God 1 " They gave in to him, and 
after summoning the apostles and 
giving them a flogging, they re- 
leased them with instructions that 
they were not to speak about the 

41 name of Jesus. The apostles left 
the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they 
had been considered worthy of 
suffering dishonour for the sake 

42 of the Name ; not for a single day 
did they cease to teach and 
preach the gospel of Jesus the 
Christ in the temple and at home. 

CHAP. 

6 During these days, when the 
disciples were increasing in number, 
the Hellenists began to complain 
against the Hebrews, on the ground 
that their widows were being over- 
162 



looked in the daily distribution of 
food. So the twelve summoned 2 
the main body of the disciples and 
said: "It is not desirable that we 
should drop preaching the word of 
God and attend to meals. Brothers, 3 
look out seven of your own 
number, men of good reputation 
who are full of the Spirit and of 
wisdom. We will appoint them 
to this duty, but we will continue 4 
to devote ourselves to prayer and 
the ministry of the word." This 5 
plan commended itself to the whole 
body, and they chose Stephen, 
a man full of faith and the holy 
Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nikanor, 
Timon, Parmenas and Nikolaos 
a proselyte from Antioch; these 6 
men they presented to the apostles, 
who, after prayer, laid their hands 
upon them. 

And the word of the Lord spread; 7 
the number of the disciples in Jeru- 
salem greatly increased, and a host 
of priests became obedient to the 
faith. 

Now Stephen, who was full of 8 
grace and power, performed great 
wonders and miracles among the 
people. Some of those who be- 9 
longed to the so-called synagogue 
of the Libyans,* the Cyrenians, 
and the Alexandrians, as well as 
to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, 
started a dispute with Stephen, but 10 
they could not meet the wisdom 
and the Spirit with which he spoke. 
They then instigated people to say, 11 
" We have heard him talking 
blasphemy against Moses and God." 
In this way they excited the people, 12 
the elders, and the scribes, who 

• Reading AL^vffrivav instead of the 
Ai^eprivav of the text. This, as Blass 
points out, gives " the African Jews in 
the geographical order of their original 
dwelling-places. ' ' 



THE ACTS VII 



rushed on him, dragged him away, 
and took him before the Sanhedrin. 

13 They also brought forward false 
witnesses to say, "This fellow is 
never done talking against this 

14 holy Place and the Law ! Why, 
we have heard him say that Jesus 
the Nazarene will destroy this 
Place and change the customs 
handed down to us by Moses ! " 

15 Then all who were seated in the 
Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, 
and saw that his face shone like the 
face of an angel. 

CHAP. 

7 Said the high priest, " Is this 

2 true ? " " Listen, brothers and 
fathers," said Stephen. " The God 
of glory appeared to our father 
Abraham when he was still in 

3 Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed 
in Haran, and said to him, ' Leave 
your land and your countrymen and 
come to whatever * land I show you J 

4 Then he left the land of the Chal- 
deans and stayed in Haran. From 
Haran God shifted him, after his 
father's death, to this land which 

5 you now inhabit. But he did not 
give him any inheritance in it, not 
even a foot of the land. All he did 
was to promise he would give it 
as a possession to him and to his 
offspring after him (he at the time 

6 being childless). What God said 
was this : * His offspring will 
sojourn in a foreign land, where they 
will he enslaved and oppressed for 

7 four hundred years. But,' said God, 
' / 1 will pass sentence on the nation 
that has made them slaves, and then 
they will get away to worship me in 

♦ Omitting [tV]- 

t The ' I fa emphatic. When the New 
Testament is read aloud, as it was originally 
meant to be, such stresses can be brought out. 
They often interpret the inner meaning of 
the text. 



this Place.' God also gave him 8 
the covenant of circumcision. So 
Abraham became the father of 
Isaac, whom he circumcised on the 
eighth day, Isaac was the father of 
Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve 
patriarchs. Out of jealousy the 9 
patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; 
but God was with him, rescuing 10 
him from all his troubles and 
allowing him to find favour for his 
wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, 
who appointed him viceroy over 
Egypt and over all his own house- 
hold. Now a famine came over 11 
the whole of Egypt and Canaan, 
attended with great misery, so that 
our ancestors could not find pro- 
vender. But, hearing there was 12 
food in Egypt, Jacob sent our 
ancestors on their first visit to that 
country; at their second visit 13 
Joseph made himself known to his 
brothers, and Pharaoh was in- 
formed of Joseph's lineage. Then 14 
Joseph sent for his father Jacob 
and all his kinsfolk, amounting to 
seventy- five souls ; and Jacob went 15 
south to Egypt, When he and our 
ancestors died, they were carried 16 
across to Shechem and laid in the 
tomb which Abraham had bought for 
a sum of money from the sons of 
Hamor in Shechem, As the time 17 
approached for the promise God 
had made to Abraham, the people 
grew and multiplied in Egypt, till 18 
another king arose to rule Egypt who 
knew nothing of Joseph, He took a 19 
cunning method with our race; he 
oppressed our ancestors by forcing 
them to expose their infants, to 
prevent them from surviving. It 20 
was at this period that Moses was 
born, a divinely beautiful child. 
For three months he was brought 
up in his father's house ; then he 21 
was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter 

153 



THE ACTS VII 



adopted him and brought him up 

22 as her own son. So Moses got 
educated in all the culture of the 
Egyptians; he was a strong man 

23 in speech and action. When he 
had completed his fortieth year, 
it occurred to him to visit his 

24 brothers, the sons of Israel, He saw 
one of them being badly treated, 
so he defended him, struck down the 
Egyptian and thus avenged the 

25 man who had been wronged. (He 
thought his brothers would under- 
stand God was going to bring them 
deliverance by means of him, but 

26 they did not understand.) Next 
day he came upon two of them 
fighting and tried to pacify them. 
" You are brothers ! " he said, 

27 " why injure one another? " But 
the man who was injuring his 
neighbour pushed him aside. " Who 
made you ruler and umpire over 

28 us ? " he asked. " Bo you want to 
kill me, as you killed the Egyptian 

29 yesterday ?" At that Moses fled ; 
he became a sojourner in the land 
of Midian, where he had two sons 

30 born to him. At the close of forty 
years an angel [of the Lord] appeared 
to him in the flames of a burning 
thorn-bush, in the desert of mount 

31 Sinai. When Moses saw this, he 
marvelled at the sight; and as he 
went up to look at it, the voice of 

32 the Lord said ' I am the God of your 
fathers, the God of Abraham and 
Isaac and Jacob."* Moses was so 
terrified that he did not dare to look 

33 at the bush. But the Lord said to 
him, ' Take the sandals off your feet, 
for the place where you are standing 
is sacred ground. I have indeed seen 
the oppression of my people in Egypt, 
I have heard their groans, and I 
have come down to rescue them. 
Come now, I will send you back to 

85 Egypt,' The Moses they refused, 
154 



when they said, ' Who made you 
ruler and umpire over us ? ' — that 
was the very man whom God sent 
to rule and to redeem them, by aid 
of the angel who had appeared to 
him in the bush. He it was who 36 
led them forth, performing wonders 
and signs in the land of Egypt, at 
the Red Sea, and in the desert during 
forty years. (This was the Moses 37 
who told the sons of Israel, * God 
will raise a prophet for you from 
among your brotherhood, as he raised 
me.'') This was the man who at the 38 
assembly in the desert intervened 
between the angel who spoke to 
him on mount Sinai and our fathers ; 
he received living Words to be 
given to us. But our fathers would 39 
not submit to him; they pushed 
him aside and hankered secretly 
after Egypt. They told Aaron, 40 
' Make gods that will march in front 
of us ! As for this Moses who led us 
out of Egypt, we don't know what 
has happened to him ! ' They 41 
actually made a calf in those days, 
offered sacriflce to this idol, and 
grew festive over what their own 
hands had manufactured. So God 42 
turned from them, abandoning 
them to the worship of the starry 
Host — as it is written in the book 
of the prophets. Did you offer me 
victims and sacrifices during the 
forty years in the desert, O house 
of Israel ? No, it was the tent 43 
of Moloch and the star-symbol of 
Bepha your god that you carried, 
figures that you manufactured for 
worship. So now I will transport 
you beyond Babylon / In the desert 44 
our fathers had the tent of witness 
as arranged by Him who told Moses 
to make it after the pattern he had 
seen. It was passed on and borne 45 
in by our fathers as with Joshua 
they took possession of the territory 



THE ACTS VIII 



of the nations whom God drove out 
before our fathers. So it remained 

46 down to the days of David. He 
found favour with God and asked 
permission to devise a dwelling for 

47 the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, 
however, who built him a house, 

48 And yet the most High does not 
dwell in houses made by hands. 
As the prophet says, 

49 Heaven is my throne, 

the earth is a footstool for my feet! 
What house would you build me ? 

saith the Lord, 
On what spot could I settle ? 

50 Did not my hand make all this? 

51 Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart 
and ear, you are always resisting 
the holy Spirit ! As with your 

52 fathers, so with you ! Which of 
the prophets did your fathers fail 
to persecute? They killed those 
who announced beforehand the 
coming of the Just One. And 
here you have betrayed him, mur- 
dered him ! — you who got the Law 
that angels transmitted, and have 
not obeyed it ! " 

When they heard this, they were 
furious and gnashed their teeth 

55 at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, 
gazed up at heaven and saw the 
glory of God and Jesus standing 

56 at God's right hand. " Look," he 
said, " I see heaven open and the 
Son of man standing at God's right 

57 hand ! " With a loud shriek they 
shut their ears and rushed at him 

58 like one man. Flinging him out- 
side the city, they proceeded to 
stone him (the witnesses laid their 
clothes at the feet of a youth called 

59 Saul). So they stoned Stephen, 
who called on the Lord, saying, 
" Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit ! " 
Then he knelt down and cried 

60 aloud, " Lord, let not this sin stand 
against them I " With these words 



he slept the sleep of death. (Saul 8 
quite approved of his murder.) 

That day a severe persecution 
broke out against the church in 
Jerusalem, and everyone, with the 
exception of the apostles, was 
scattered over Judaea and Samaria. 
Devout men buried Stephen and 2 
made loud lamentation over him, 
but Saul made havoc of the church 3 
by entering one house after another, 
dragging off men and women, and 
consigning them to prison. 

Now those who had to scatter 4 
went through the land preaching 
the gospel. Philip travelled down 5 
to a town in Samaria, where he 
preached Christ to the people. 
And the crowds attended like one 6 
man to what was said by Philip, 
listening to him and watching the 
miracles he performed. For un- 7 
clean spirits came screaming and 
shrieking out of many who had 
been possessed, and many para- 
lytics and lame people were healed. 
So there was great rejoicing in that 8 
town. Now for some time previous 9 
a man called Simon had been 
practising magic arts in the town, 
to the utter astonishment of the 
Samaritan nation; he made him- 
self out to be a great person, and 10 
all sorts and conditions of people 
attached themselves to him, de- 
claring he was that Power of God 
which is known as ' the Great 
Power.' They attached them- 11 
selves to him because he had dazzled 
them with his skill in magic for a 
considerable time. But when they 12 
believed Philip, who preached the 
gospel of the Reign of God and the 
name of Jesus, they had them- 
selves baptized, both men and 
women ; indeed Simon himself 13 
believed, and after his baptism kept 
close to PhiHp, utterly astonished 

155 



THE ACTS VIII 



to see the signs and striking 
miracles which were taking place. 

14 When the apostles at Jerusalem 
heard that Samaria had accepted 
the word of God, they despatched 

15 Peter and John, who came down 
and prayed that the Samaritans 

16 might receive the holy Spirit. (As 
yet it had not fallen upon any of 
them; they had simply been bap- 
tized in the name of the Lord 

17 Jesus.) Then they laid their hands 
on them, and they received the holy 

18 Spirit. Now Simon noticed that the 
holy Spirit was conferred by the 
laying on of the apostles* hands; 
so he brought them money, saying, 

19 " Let me share this power too, 
so that anyone on whom I lay my 
hands may receive the holy Spirit." 

20 Peter said to him, " Death to you 
and your money, for dreaming you 

21 could buy the gift of God I You 
come in for no share or lot in this 
religion. Your heart is all wrong 

22 in the sight of God, So repent of 
this wickedness of yours, and ask 
God whether you cannot be for- 
given for your heart's purpose. 

23 For I see you are a hitter poison and 

24 a pack of evil." Simon replied, 
" Ask you the Lord for me ! Pray 
that nothing you have said may 
befall me ! " 

25 After bearing their testimony to 
the word of the Lord and preach- 
ing it, the apostles went back to 
Jerusalem, preaching the gospel 
to a number of the Samaritan 

26 villages ; but an angel of the Lord 
said to PhiUp, " Get up and go 
south, along the road from Jeru- 
salem to Gaza " (the desert-route). 

27 So he got up and went on his way. 
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, 
a high official of Candace the queen 
of the Ethiopians (he was her chief 
treasurer), who had come to Jeru- 

156 



■i 



salem for worship and was on his 28 
way home. He was sitting in his 
chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. 
The Spirit said to Philip, " Go 29 
up and join that chariot." When 
Philip ran up, he heard him read- 30 
ing the prophet Isaiah. " Do you 
really understand* what you are 
reading?" he asked. "How can 
I possibly understand it," said the 
eunuch, " unless someone puts me 
on the right track? " And he begged 
Philip to get up and sit beside him. 
Now the passage of scripture which 32 
he was reading was as follows : — 

he was led like a sheep to be 
slaughtered, 

and as a lamb is dumb before the 
shearer, 
so he opens not his lips. 

By humbling himself he had his 33 
doom removed. 

Who can tell his family ? 
For his life is cut off from the 
earth. 

So the eunuch said to Philip, 34 
" Pray, who is the prophet speaking 
about? Is it himself or someone 
else ? " Then Phihp opened his 35 
lips, and starting from this scripture 
preached the gospel of Jesus to him. 
As they travelled on, they came to 36 
some water, and the eunuch said, 
" Here is water ! What is to pre- 
vent me being baptized ? " So he 38 
ordered the chariot to stop. Both 
of them stepped into the water, 
and Philip baptized the eunuch. 
When they came up from the water, 39 
the Spirit of the Lord caught 
Philip away, and the eunuch lost 
sight of him. He went on his way 
rejoicing, while Philip found himself 40 
at Azotus, where he passed on, 

* The Vulgate preserves the play on 
words in the Greek. Intellegis quae legis 
brings out, as English cannot^ the force 
I of yivct)iTK€is h avayiVioffKHS^ 



THE ACTS IX 



preaching the gospel in every town, 
till he reached Caesarea. 



9 Meanwhile Saul still breathed 
threats of murder against the 
disciples of the Lord. He went 

2 to the high priest and asked him 
for letters to the synagogues at 
Damascus empowering him to put 
any man or woman in chains whom 
he could find belonging to the Way, 

3 and bring them to Jerusalem. As 
he neared Damascus in the course 
of his journey, suddenly a light 
from heaven flashed round him; 

4 he dropped to the ground and heard 
a voice saying to him, " Saul, Saul, 

5 why do you persecute me ? " " Who 
are you?"* he asked. "I am 
Jesus," he said, " and you perse- 

6 cute me. Get up and go into the 
city. There you will be told what 

7 you have to do." His fellow- 
travellers stood speechless, for they 
heard the voice but they could not 

8 see anyone. Saul got up from the 
ground, but though his eyes were 
open he could see nothing; so they 
took his hand and led him to 

9 Damascus. For three days he re- 
mained sightless, he neither ate nor 
drank. 

10 Now there was a disciple called 
Ananias in Damascus. The Lord 
said to him in a vision, " Ananias." 

11 He said, " I am here. Lord." And 
the Lord said to him, " Go away to 
the street called ' The Straight 
Street,' and ask at the house of 
Judas for a man of Tarsus called 
Saul. He is praying at this very 

12 moment, and he has seen a man 
called Ananias enter and lay his 
hands upon him to bring back his 

♦ I have deliberately left Kvpie untrans- 
lated here, as in xxii. 8 and xxvi. 14, no less 
than in x. 4. Any English rendering would 
imply either too much oi too little. 



sight." " But, Lord," Ananias 13 
answered, " many people have 
told me about all the mischief this 
man has done to thy saints at 
Jerusalem ! And in this city too 14 
he has authority from the high 
priests to put anyone in chains 
who invokes thy Name ! " But 
the Lord said to him, "Go; I have 15 
chosen him to be the means of bring- 
ing my Name before the Gentiles 
and their kings as well as before 
the sons of Israel. I will show 16 
him all he has to suffer for the sake 
of my Name." So Ananias went off 17 
and entered the house, laying his 
hands on him with these words, 
" Saul, my brother, I have been 
sent by the Lord, by Jesus who 
appeared to you on the road, to let 
you regain your sight and be filled 
with the holy Spirit." In a mo- 18 
ment something like scales fell from 
his eyes, he regained his sight, got 
up and was baptized. Then he 19 
took some food and felt strong 
again. For several days he stayed 
at Damascus with the disciples. 
He lost no time in preaching 20 
throughout the synagogues that 
Jesus was the Son of God — to the 21 
amazement of all his hearers, who 
said, " Is this not the man who in 
Jerusalem harried those who invoke 
this Name, the man who came here 
for the express purpose of carrying 
them all in chains to the high 
priests ? " 

Saul became more and more 22 
vigorous. He put the Jewish resi- 
dents in Damascus to confusion by 
his proof that Jesus was the Christ ; 
and the Jews, after a number of 23 
days had elapsed, conspired to make 
away with him. But this plot came 24 
to the ears of Saul, and, although 
they kept watch on the gates day 
and night in order to make away 

167 



THE ACTS X 



25 with him, his disciples managed 
one night to let him down over the 
wall by lowering him in a basket. 

26 He got to Jerusalem and tried to 
join the disciples, but they were all 
afraid of him, unable to believe he 

27 was really a disciple. Barnabas, 
however, got hold of him and 
brought him to the apostles. To 
them he related how he had seen 
the Lord upon the road, how He had 
spoken to him, and how he had 
spoken freely in the name of Jesus 

28 at Damascus. He then went in 
and out among them at Jerusalem, 

29 speaking freely in the name of the 
Lord; he also held conversations 
and debates with the Hellenists. 
But when the brothers learned that 
the Hellenists were tr5dng to make 

30 away with him, they took him 
down to Caesarea and sent him off 
to Tarsus. 



31 Now, all over Judaea, Gahlee, 
and Samaria, the church enjoyed 
peace; it was consolidated, in- 
spired by reverence for the Lord 
and by its invocation of the holy 
Spirit, and so increased in numbers. 

32 Peter moved here and there among 
them all, and it happened that in 
the course of his tours he came 
down to visit the saints who stayed 

33 at Lydda. There he found a man 
called JEneas who had been bed- 
ridden for eight years with paraly- 

34 sis. " iEneas," said Peter, " Jesus 
the Christ cures you ! Get up and 
make your bed ! " He got up at 

35 once. And all the inhabitants of 
Lydda and Saron saw him, and 
they turned to the Lord. 

36 At Joppa there was a disciple 
called Tabitha (which may be trans- 
lated Dorcas, or ' Gazelle '), a woman 
whose life was full of good actions 

158 



and of charitable practices. She 37 
happened to take ill and die at this 
time, and after washing her body 
they laid it in an upper room. When 38 
the disciples heard that Peter was 
at Lydda (for Joppa is not far from 
Lydda), they sent two men to beg 
him to " Come on to us without 
delay." So Peter got up and went 39 
with them. When he arrived, they 
took him up to the room, where 
all the widows stood beside him 
crying as they showed him the 
garments and dresses that Dorcas 
used to make when she was with 
them. Peter put them all outside ; 40 
then he knelt down and prayed, 
and turning to the body said, 
" Tabitha, rise." She opened her 
eyes, and on seeing Peter she sat 
up. Then he gave her his hand, 41 
raised her, and, after calling 
the saints and the widows he pre- 
sented her to them alive. This 42 
became known all over Joppa, 
and many believed in the Lord. 43 

In Joppa Peter stayed for some 
time, at the house of Simon a 
tanner. Now in Caesarea there 10 
was a man called Cornelius, a 
captain in the Italian regiment, 
a religious man, who reverenced 2 
God with all his household, who 
was liberal in his alms to the 
People, and who constantly prayed 
to God. About three o'clock in the 8 
afternoon he distinctly saw in a 
vision an angel of God entering and 
saying to him, " Cornelius." He 4 
stared at the angel in terror, say- 
ing, " What is it ? " He rephed, 
" Your prayers and your alms 
have risen before God as a sacri- 
fice to be remembered. You must 5 
now send some men to Joppa 
for a certain Simon who is sur- 
named Peter; he is staying with 6 
Simon a tanner, whose house stands 



THE ACTS X 



7 by the sea." When the angel who 
spoke to him had left, he called 
two of his menservants and a 
religiously minded soldier who be- 

8 longed to his personal retinue, and 
after describing all the vision to 

9 them, he sent them to Joppa. Next 
day they were still on the road and 
not far from the town, when Peter 
went up to the roof of the house 

10 about noon to pray. He got very 
hungry and longed for some food. 
But as they were getting the meal 

11 ready, a trance came over him. He 
saw heaven open and a vessel com- 
ing down, like a huge sheet lowered 
by the four corners to the earth, 

12 which contained all quadrupeds 
and creeping things of the earth 

13 and wild birds. A voice came to 
him, " Rise, Peter, kill and eat." 

14 But Peter said, " No, no, my Lord ; 
I have never eaten anything com- 

15 mon or unclean." A second time 
the voice came back to him, 
" What God has cleansed, you must 

16 not regard as common." This 
happened three times; then the 
vessel was at once raised to heaven. 

17 Peter was quite at a loss to know 
the meaning of the vision he had 
seen ; but just then, the messenger 
of Cornelius, who had made in- 
quiries for the house of Simon, 

18 stood at the door and called out 
to ask if Simon, surnamed Peter, 

19 was staying there. So the Spirit 
said to Peter, who was pondering 
over the vision, " There are three 

20 men looking for you ! Come, get 
up and go down, and have no hesita- 
tion about accompanying them, 
for it is I who have sent them." 

21 Then Peter went down to the men, 
saying, " I am the man you are 
looking for. What is your reason 

22 for coming?" They said, "Cor- 
nelius, a captain, a good man who 



reverences God and enjoys a good 
reputation among the whole Jewish 
nation, was instructed by a holy 
angel to send for you to his house 
and to listen to what you had to 
say." So he invited them in and 23 
entertained them. Next day he was 
up and off with them, accom- 
panied by some of the brothers 
from Joppa ; and on the next day he 24 
reached Caesarea. Peter was just 25 
going into the house when Cornelius 
met him, fell at his feet, and wor- 
shipped him ; but Peter raised him, 26 
saying, " Get up, I am only a man 
myself." Then talking to him he 27 
entered the house, to find a large 
company assembled. (For Cor- 24 
nelius had been expecting him and 
had called his kinsfolk and intimate 
friends together.) * To them Peter 28 
said, " You know yourselves it is 
illegal for a Jew to j oin or accost any- 
one belonging to another nation ; but 
God has shown me that I must not 
call any man common or unclean, 
and so I have come without any 29 
demur when I was sent for. Now 
I want to know why you sent for 
me ? " " Three days ago," said 30 
Cornelius, " at this very hour I was 
praying in my house at three o'clock 
in the afternoon, when a man stood 
before me in shining dress, saying, 31 
* Cornelius, your prayer has been 
heard, your alms are remem- 
bered by God. You must send to 32 
Joppa and summon Simon who is 
surnamed Peter; he is staying in 
the house of Simon a tanner beside 
the sea.' So I sent for you at once, 33 
and you have been kind enough to 
come. Well now, here we are all 
present before God to listen to what 
the Lord has commanded you to 
say." Then Peter opened his lips 34 

♦ Transposing ver. 246 to its right 
position between ver. 27 and ver. 28. 

159 



THE ACTS XI 



and said, ** I see quite plainly that 

85 God has no favourites, but that he 
who reverences Him and lives a 
good life in any nation is welcomed 

86 by Him. You know the message he 
sent to the sons of Israel when he 
preached the gospel of peace by 
Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all); 

37 you know how it spread over the 
whole of Judaea, starting from 
Galilee after the baptism preached 
by John — how God consecrated 

88 Jesus of Nazaret with the holy 
Spirit and power, and how he went 
about doing good and curing all 
who were harassed by the devil; 

39 for God was with him. As for what 
he did in the land of the Jews and 
of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. 
They slew him by hanging him on a 

40 gibbet, but God raised him on the 
third day, and allowed him to be seen 

41 not by all the People but by wit- 
nesses whom God had previously 
selected, by us who ate and drank 
with him after his resurrection from 

42 the dead, when he enjoined us to 
preach to the People, testif jdng that 
this was he whom God has appointed 
to be judge for the living and of the 

43 dead. All the prophets testify that 
everyone who believes in him is to 
receive remission of sins through 

44 his Name." While Peter was still 
speaking, the holy Spirit fell upon 
all who listened to what he said. 

45 Now the Jewish believers who had 
accompanied Peter were amazed 
that the gift of the holy Spirit had 
actually been poured out on the 

46 Gentiles — for they heard them 
speak with ' tongues ' and magnify 

47 God. At this Peter asked, " Can 
any one refuse water for the bap- 
tism of these people — people who 
have received the holy Spirit just 

48 as we ourselves have ? " And he 
ordered them to be baptized in the 

160 



name of Jesus Christ. Then they 
begged him to remain for some 
days. 

CHAP. 

Now the apostles and the brothers 11 
in Judaea heard that the Gentiles 
also had received the word of God. 
So when Peter came up to Jeru- 2 
salem, the circumcision party fell 
foul of him. " You went into 3 
the houses of the uncircumcised," 
they said, " and you ate with 
them ! " Then Peter proceeded to 4 
put the facts before them. "I 5 
was in the town of Joppa at prayer," 
he said, " and in a trance I saw a 
vision — a vessel coming down like 
a huge sheet lowered from heaven 
by the four corners. It came down 
to me, and when I looked steadily 6 
at it, I noted the quadrupeds of the 
earth, the wild beasts, the creeping 
things and the wild birds. Also I 7 
heard a voice spying to me, ' Rise, 
Peter, kill and eat.' I said, ' No, 8 
no, my Lord ; * nothing common or 
unclean has ever passed my lips.' 
But a voice answered me for the 9 
second time out of heaven, ' What 
God has cleansed, you must not 
regard as common.' This hap- 10 
pened three times, and then the 
whole thing was drawn back into 
heaven. At that very moment 11 
three men reached the house where 
I was living, sent to me from 
Caesarea. The Spirit told me to 12 
have no hesitation in accompanying 
them ; these six brothers went with 
me as well, and we entered the 
man's house. He related to us how 13 
he had seen the angel standing in 
his house and saying, ' Send to 
Joppa for Simon who is surnamed 

* Here, as in x. 14, /cupte is translated. 
Peter was a Christian, and the connexion of 
the Voice with the Spirit is evident from the 
context. 



THE ACTS XII 



14 Peter ; he will tell you how you and 
j all your household are to be saved.' 

15 Now just as I began to speak, the 
holy Spirit fell upon them as upon 

16 us at the beginning; and I remem- 
bered the saying of the Lord, that 
* John baptized with water, but 
you will be baptized with the holy 

17 Spirit.* Well then, if God has given 
them exactly the same gift as he 
gave us when we believed in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I — 
how could I tr}^ — to thwart God ? " 

18 On hearing this they desisted and 
glorified God, saying, " So God has 
actually allowed the Gentiles to 
repent and live I " 

19 Now those who had been scat- 
tered by the trouble which arose 
over Stephen made their way as 
far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and An- 
tioch, but they preached the word 

20 to none except Jews. Some of 
them, however, were Cypriotes and 
Cyrenians, who on reaching An- 
tioch told the Greeks * also the 

21 gospel of the Lord Jesus; the 
strong hand of the Lord was with 
them, and a large number believed 

22 and turned to the Lord. The news 
of this reached the church in Jeru- 
salem, and they despatched Barna- 

23 bas to Antioch. When he came and 
saw the grace of God he rejoiced, 
and encouraged them all to hold 
by the Lord with heartfelt pur- 
pose (for he was a good man, full 

24 of the holy Spirit and faith). Con- 
siderable numbers of people were 

25 brought in for the Lord. So Barna- 
bas went off to Tarsus to look for 

26 Saul, and on finding him he brought 
him to Antioch, where for a whole 
year they were guests of the church 
and taught considerable numbers. 

* Reading "EWvvas with i<<> A D*, for 
which 'E\XT)vi(xras seems to have been sub- 
stituted under the influence of ix. 29. 



It was at Antioch too that the 
disciples were originally called 
" Christians." 

During these days some prophets 27 
came down from Jerusalem to 
Antioch, one of whom, named 28 
Agabus, showed by the Spirit that 
a severe famine was about to visit 
the whole world (the famine which 
occurred in the reign of Claudius). 
So the disciples put aside money, 29 
as each of them was able to afford 
it, for a contribution to be sent to 
the brothers in Judaea. This they 30 
carried out, sending their contribu- 
tion to the presbyters by Barnabas 
and Saul. 

CHAP. 

It was about that time that king 12 
Herod laid hands of violence on 
some members of the church. James 2 
the brother of John he slew with 
the sword, and when he saw this 3 
pleased the Jews, he went on to 
seize Peter. (This was during the 
days of unleavened bread.) After 4 
arresting him he put him in prison, 
handing him over to a guard of 
sixteen soldiers, with the intention 
of producing him to the People 
after the passover. So Peter was 5 
closely guarded in prison, while 
earnest prayer for him was offered 
to God by the church. The very 6 
night before Herod meant to have 
him produced, Peter lay asleep 
between two soldiers; he was fast- 
ened by two chains, and sentries in 
front of the door guarded the 
prison. But an angel of the Lord 7 
flashed on him, and a light shone in 
the cell; striking Peter on the side 
he woke him saying, " Quick, get 
up ! " The fetters dropped from 
his hands, and the angel said to him, 8 
" Gird yourself and put on your 
sandals." He did so. Then said 

161 



THE ACTS XIII 



the angel, " Put on your coat and 

9 follow me." And he followed him 

out, not realizing that what the 

angel did was real, but imagining 

10 that he saw a vision. When they 
had passed the first guard and the 
second they came to the iron gate 
leading into the city, which opened 
to them of its own accord; they 
passed out, and after they had gone 
through one street, the angel imme- 

11 diately left him. Then Peter came 
to his senses and said, "Now I know 
for certain that the Lord has sent 
his angel and rescued me from the 
hand of Herod and from all that 
the Jewish people were anticipat- 

12 ing." When he grasped the situa- 
tion, he went to the house of Mary, 
the mother of John who was sur- 
named Mark, where a number had 

13 met for prayer. When he knocked at 
the door of the porch, a maidservant 
called Rhoda came to answer it; 

14 but as soon as she recognized Peter's 
voice, instead of opening the door 
she ran inside from sheer joy and 
announced that Peter was standing 

15 in front of the porch. " You are 
mad," they said. But she insisted 
it was true. " It is his angel," they 

16 said. But Peter kept on knocking, 
and when they opened the door they 

17 were amazed to see him. He beck- 
oned to them to keep quiet and 
then described to them how the 
Lord had brought him out of prison. 
" Report this to James," he said, 
*' and to the brothers." And off he 

18 went to another place. Now 
when day broke there was a great 
commotion among the soldiers over 
what could have become of Peter. 

19 Herod made inquiries for him but 
could not find him ; so, after cross- 
examining the guards, he ordered 
them off to death. He then went 
down from Judaea to Caesarea, 

162 



where he spent some time. As 20 
there was a bitter feud between 
him and the inhabitants of Tyre 
and Sidon, they waited on him 
unanimously and after conciliating 
the royal chamberlain Blastus made 
overtures for peace, as their country 
depended for its food-supply upon 
the royal territory. On a stated 21 
day Herod arrayed himself in royal 
robes, took his seat on the dais, 
and proceeded to harangue them. 
The populace shouted, " It is a 22 
god's voice, not a man's ! " And 23 
in a moment an angel of the 
Lord struck him, because he had 
not given due glory to God; he 
was eaten up by worms and so 
expired. 

The word of God spread and 24 
multiplied. 

After fulfilling their commission, 25 
Barnabas and Saul returned from 
Jerusalem, bringing with them 
John who is surnamed Mark. 
Now in the local church at An- 13 
tioch there were prophets and 
teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called 
Niger) and Lucius the Cj'renian, 
besides Manaen (a foster-brother 
of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 
As they were worshipping the Lord 2 
and fasting, the holy Spirit said, 
" Come ! set me apart Barnabas 
and Saul for the work to which I 
have called them." Then after 3 
fasting and praying they laid their 
hands on them and let them 
go. 

Sent out thus by the holy Spirit, 4 
they went down to Seleucia and 
from there they sailed to Cyprus. 
On reaching Salamis they pro- 5 
claimed the word of God in the 
Jewish synagogues, with John as 
their assistant. They covered the 6 
whole island as far as Paphos, 
where they fell in with a Jewish 



THE ACTS XIII 



sorcerer and false prophet called 

7 Bar- Jesus ; he belonged to the suite 
of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, 
an intelligent man who called for 
Barnabas and Saul and demanded 

8 to hear the word of God. But the 
sorcerer Elymas (for that is the 
translation of his name) tried to 
divert the proconsul from the faith. 

9 So Saul (who is also called Paul), 
filled with the holy Spirit, looked 

10 steadily at him and said, " You 
son of the devil, you enemy of all 
good, full of all craft and all cun- 
ning, will you never stop diverting 

11 the straight paths of the Lord ? See 
here, the Lord's hand will fall on 
you, and you will be blind, unable 
for a time to see the sun." In a 
moment a dark mist fell upon him, 

12 and he groped about for someone 
to take him by the hand. Then 
the proconsul believed, when he 
saw what had happened ; he was 
astounded at the doctrine of the 
Lord. 

13 Setting sail from Paphos, Paul 
and his companions reached Perga 
in PamphyUa ; John left them and 

14 went back to Jerusalem, but they 
passed on from Perga and arrived 
at Pisidian Antioch. On the sab- 
bath they went into the synagogue 

15 and sat down ; and, after the reading 
of the Law and the prophets, the 
president of the synagogue sent to 
tell them, " Brothers, if you have 
any word of counsel for the people, 

16 say it." So Paul stood up and 
motioning with his hand said, 
" Listen, men of Israel and you who 

17 reverence God. The God of this 
People Israel chose our fathers; 
he multiplied the people as they 
sojourned in the land of Egypt and 
with arm uplifted led them out of it. 

18 For about forty years he bore with 

19 them in the desert,<md after destroying 



seven nations in the land of Canaan 
he gave them their land as an inherit- 
ance for about four hundred and fifty 
years. After that he gave them 20 
judges, down to the prophet 
Samuel. Then it was that they 21 
begged for a king, and God gave 
them forty years of Saul, the son 
of Kish, who belonged to the tribe 
of Benjamin. After deposing him, 22 
he raised up David to be their king, 
to whom he bore this testimony 
that '7/1 David, the son of Jessai, 
/ have found a man after my own 
heart, who will obey all my will.* 
From his offspring God brought to 23 
Israel, as he had promised, a saviour 
in Jesus, before whose coming John 24 
had already preached a baptism of 
repentance for all the people of 
Israel. And as John was closing 25 
his career he said, ' What do you 
take me for? I am not He; no, 
he is coming after me, and I am not 
fit to untie the sandals on his feet ! * 
Brothers, sons of Abraham's race 26 
and all among you who reverence 
God, the message of this salvation 
has been sent to us. The inhabi- 27 
tants of Jerusalem and their rulers, 
by condemning him * in their 
ignorance, fulfilled the words of the 
prophets which are read every sab- 
bath ; though they could find him 28 
guilty of no crime that deserved 
death they begged Pilate to have 
him put to death, and, after carry- 29 
ing out all that had been predicted 
of him in scripture, they lowered 
him from the gibbet and laid him 
in a tomb. But God raised him 30 
from the dead. For many days he 31 
was seen by those who had come 

* The Greek text is difficult. I prefer, 
as the least radical treatment, Lachmann's 
proposal to read Kpivavres immediately after 
ayyovaavTes Koi, which at anyrate yields a 
fair sense. 

163 



THE ACTS XIV 



up with him from Galilee to Jeru- 
salem; they are now his witnesses 

32 to the People. So we now preach 
to you the glad news that the 

33 promise made to the fathers has 
been fulfilled by God for us their 
children, when he raised Jesus. As 
it is written in the second psalm, 

thou art my son, 

to-day have I become thy father, 

34 And as a proof that he has raised him 
from the dead, never to return to 
decay, he has said this : I will give you 
the holiness of David that fails not. 

35 Hence in another psalm he says, 

thou wilt not let thy holy One 
suffer decay, 

36 Of course David, after serving God's 
purpose in his own generation, died 
and was laid beside his fathers; he 

37 suffered "decay, but He whom God 

38 raised did not suffer decay. So you 
must understand, my brothers, 
that remission of sins is proclaimed 

39 to you through him, and that by 
him everyone who believes is ab- 
solved from all that the law of 

40 Moses never could absolve you 
from. Beware then in case the 
prophetic saying applies to you : 

41 Look, you disdainful folk, wonder 

at this and perish — 
for in your days I do a deed, 
a deed you will never believe, not 
though one were to explain it to 
you,'' 
4i2 As Paul and Barnabas went out, 
the people begged to have all this 
repeated to them on the following 

43 sabbath. After the synagogue broke 
up, a number of the Jews and the 
devout proselytes followed them; 
Paul and Barnabas talked to them 
and encouraged them to hold by 

44 the grace of God. And on the next 
sabbath nearly all the town gathered 

45 to hear the word of the Lord. But 
when the Jews saw the crowds they 

164 



^. 



were filled with jealousy ; they began 
to contradict what Paul said and 
to abuse him. So Paul and Barna- 46 
bas spoke out fearlessly. " The 
word of God," they said, " had to 
be spoken to you in the first in- | 
stance ; but as you push it aside and ji 
judge yourselves unworthy of eter- | 
nal life, well, here we turn to the J 
Gentiles ! For these are the Lord's 47 ' 
orders to us : 

I have set you to be a light for the 

Gentiles, j 

to bring salvation to the end of '•> 

the earth." 
When the Gentiles heard this they 48 
rejoiced and glorified the word of 
the Lord and believed, that is, all 
who had been ordained to eternal 
life; and the word of the Lord 49 
went far and wide over the whole 
country. But the Jews incited the 50 
devout women of high rank and the 
leading men in the town, who stirred 
up persecution against Paul and 
Barnabas and drove them out of j 
their territory. They shook the 51 
dust off their feet as a protest 
and went to Iconium. As for the 52 
disciples, they were filled with joy 
and the holy Spirit. 

CHAP. 

At Iconium the same thing hap- 14 
pened. They went into the syna- 
gogue of the Jews and spoke in 
such a way that a great body both 
of Jews and Greeks believed. Here 3 
they spent a considerable time, 
speaking fearlessly about the Lord, 
who attested the word of his grace 
by allowing signs and wonders to 
be performed by them.* But the 2 
refractory Jews stirred up and 
exasperated the feeling of the 
Gentiles against the brothers. The 4 

* Restoring ver. 3 to what appears to 
have been its original position between 
vers. 1 and 2. 



THE ACTS XV 



populace of the town was divided ; 
some sided ■with the Jews, some 

5 with the apostles. But, when the 
Gentiles and Jews along with their 
rulers made a hostile movement to 

6 insult and stone them, the apostles 
grasped the situation and escaped 
to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra 
and Derbe and the surrounding 

7 country; there they continued to 
preach the gospel. 

8 At Lystra there was a man sitting, 
who was powerless in his feet, a 
lame man unable to walk ever since 

9 he was born. He heard Paul speak- 
ing, and Paul, gazing steadily at 
him and noticing that he had faith 

10 enough to make him better, said 
in a loud voice, " Stand erect on 
your feet." Up he jumped and 

11 began to walk. Now when the 
crowds saw what Paul had done, 
they shouted in the Lycaonian 
language, " The gods have come 
down to us in human form ! " 

12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul 
Hermes, since he was the chief 

13 spokesman. Indeed the priest of 
the temple of Zeus in front of the 
town brought oxen and garlands 
to the gates, intending to offer 
sacrifice along with the crowds. 

14 But when the apostles, Paul and 
Barnabas, heard this they rent 
their clothes and sprang out among 

15 the crowd, shouting, " Men, what is 
this you are doing? We are but 
human, with natures like your 
own ! The gospel we are preach- 
ing to you is to turn from such 
futile ways to the living God who 
made the heaven, the earth, the sea, 

16 and all that in them is. In bygone 
ages he allowed all nations to go 

17 their own ways, though as the boun- 
tiful Giver he did not leave himself 
without a witness, giving you rain 
from heaven and fruitful seasons. 



giving you food and joy to your 
heart's content." Even by saying 18 
this it was all they could do to 
keep the crowds from sacrificing 
to them. 

But Jews from Antioch and Ico- 19 
nium arrived, who won over the 
crowds, and after pelting Paul with 
stones they dragged him outside the 
town, thinking he was dead. How- 20 
ever, as the disciples gathered round 
him, he got up and went into the 
town. 

Next day he went off with Barna- 
bas to Derbe, and after preaching 21 
the gospel to that town and making 
a number of disciples, they turned 
back to Lystra, Iconium and An- 
tioch, strengthening the souls of the 22 
disciples, encouraging them to hold 
by the faith, and telling them that 
"we have to get into the Realm 
of God through many a trouble." 
They chose presbyters for them in 23 
every church, and with prayer and 
fasting entrusted them to the Lord 
in whom they had believed. Then 24 
they came through Pisidia to Pam- 
phylia, and after speaking the word 25 
of the Lord in Perga they went 
down to Attaleia ; thence they sailed 26 
for Antioch, where they had been 
commended to the grace of God 
for the work they had now com- 
pleted. On their arrival they 27 
gathered the church together and 
reported how God had been with 
them, what he had done, and how 
he had opened a door into faith for 
the Gentiles. 

They spent a considerable time 28 
with the disciples there. But cer- 15 
tain individuals came down from 
Jerusalem and taught the brothers 
that " unless you get circumcised 
after the custom of Moses you can- 
not be saved." As a sharp dispute 12 
and controversy sprang up between 

165 



THE ACTS XV 



them and Paul and Barnabas, it 
was arranged that Paul and Barna- 
bas, along with some others of their 
number, should go up to Jerusalem 
to see the apostles and presbyters 
at Jerusalem about this question. 
8 The church sped them on their jour- 
ney, and they passed through both 
Phoenicia and Syria informing the 
brothers, to the great joy of all, that 
the Gentiles were turning to God. 

4 On arriving at Jerusalem they were 
received by the church, the apostles 
and the presbyters, and they re- 
ported how God had been with them 

5 and what he had done. But some 
of the believers who belonged to the 
Pharisaic party got up and said, 
** Gentiles must be circumcised and 
told to observe the law of Moses." 

6 The apostles and the presbyters met 

7 to investigate this question, and a 
keen controversy sprang up; but 
Peter rose and said to them, 
" Brothers, you are well aware that 
from the earliest days God chose 
that of you all I should be the one 
by whom the Gentiles were to hear 
the word of the gospel and believe 

8 it. The God who reads the hearts 
of all attested this by giving them 
the holy Spirit just as he gave it 

9 to us ; in cleansing their hearts by 
faith he made not the slightest dis- 
tinction between us and them. 

10 Well now, why are you trying * 
to impose a yoke on the neck of 
the disciples which neither our 
fathers nor we ourselves could 

11 bear? No, it is by the grace of 
the Lord Jesus that we believe and 
are saved, in the same way as they 

12 are." So the whole meeting was 
quieted and listened to Barnabas 
and Paul recounting the signs and 
wonders (Jod had performed by 



166 



♦ Omitting rhv 9f6v. 



them among the Gentiles. When 13 
they had finished speaking, James 
spoke. " Brothers," he said, " lis- 
ten to me. Symeon has explained 14 
how it was God's original concern 
to secure a People from among the 
Gentiles to bear his Name. This 15 
agrees with the words of the pro- 
phets ; as it is written, 

After this I will return and rebuild 16 
David^s fallen tent, 
its ruins I will rebuild and erect 
it anew, 
that the rest of men may seek for 17 
the Lord, 
even all the Gentiles who are 
called by my name, 
saith the Lord, who makes this known 18 
from of old. Hence, in my opinion, 19 
we ought not to put fresh difficulties 
in the way of those who are turning 
to God from among the Gentiles, but 20 
write them injunctions to abstain 
from whatever is contaminated by 
idols, from sexual vice, from the 
flesh of animals that have been 
strangled, and from tasting blood; 
for Moses has had his preachers 21 
from the earliest ages in every town, 
where he is read aloud in the syna- 
gogues every sabbath." Then the 22 
apostles and the presbjrters, to- 
gether with the whole church, de- 
cided to select some of their number 
and send them with Paul and Bar- 
nabas to Antioch. The men selected 
were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and 
Silas, prominent members of the 
brotherhood. They conveyed the 23 
following letter. " The apostles 
and the presbyters of the brother- 
hood to the brothers who belong 
to the Gentiles throughout Antioch 
and Syria and Cilicia : greeting. 
Having learned that some of our 24 
number,! quite unauthorized by us, 

t Omitting i^ehSoyres, 



THE ACTS XVI 



have unsettled you with their teach- 

25 ing and upset your souls, we have 
decided unanimously to select some 
of our number and send them to you 
along with our beloved Paul and 

26 Barnabas who have risked their 
lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus 

27 Christ. We therefore send Judas 
and Silas with the following mes- 
sage, which they will also give to 

28 you orally. The holy Spirit and we 
have decided not to impose any 
extra burden on you, apart from 

29 these essential requirements: abstain 
from food that has been offered to 
idols, from tasting blood, from the 
flesh of animals that have been 
strangled, and from sexual vice. 
Keep clear of all this and you will 

80 prosper. Goodbye." When the 
messengers were despatched, they 
went down to Antioch and after 
gathering the whole body they 

31 handed them the letter. On read- 
ing it the people rejoiced at the 

32 encouragement it brought ; and as 
Judas and Silas were themselves 
prophets, they encouraged and 
strengthened the brothers with 

33 many a counsel. Then after some 
time had passed the brothers let 
them go with a greeting of peace 

35 to those who had sent them. Paul 
and Barnabas, however, stayed on 
in Antioch, teaching and preaching 
the word of the Lord along with a 
number of others. 

36 Some days later, Paul said to 
Barnabas, " Come and let us go 
back to visit the brothers in every 
town where we have proclaimed the 
word of the Lord. Let us see how 

37 they are doing." But while Barna- 
bas wanted to take John (who was 

38 called Mark) along with them, Paul 
held they should not take a man 
with them who had deserted them 
in Pamphylia, instead of accom- 



panying them on active service. So 89 
in irritation they parted company, 
Barnabas taking Mark mth him 
and sailing for Cyprus, while Paul 40 
selected Silas and went off, com- 
mended by the brothers to the 
grace of the Lord. He made his 41 
way through Syria and CiHcia, 
strengthening the churches. 
He also came down to Derbe 16 
and Lystra, where there was a dis- 
ciple called Timotheus, the son of 
a believing Jewess and a Greek 
father. He had a good reputation 2 
among the brothers at Lystra and 
Iconium ; so, as Paul wished him to 3 
go abroad with him, he took and 
circumcised him on account of the 
local Jews, all of whom knew his 
father had been a Greek. As they 4 
travelled on from town to town, 
they handed over to the people 
the resolutions which the apostles 
and the presbyters in Jerusalem 
had decided were to be obeyed; 
and the churches were strengthened 5 
in the faith and increased in num- 
bers day by day. They crossed 6 
Phrygia and the country of Galatia, 
the holy Spirit having stopped 
them from preaching the word in 
Asia; when they got as far as 7 
Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, 
but the Spirit of Jesus would not 
allow them, and so . they passed 8 
Mysia by and went down to Troas. 
A vision appeared to Paul by night, 9 
the vision of a Macedonian stand- 
ing and appealing to him with the 
words, " Cross to Macedonia and 
help us." As soon as he saw the 10 
vision, we made efforts to start for 
Macedonia, inferring that God had 
called us to preach the gospel to 
them. Setting sail then from Troas 11 
we ran straight to Samothrace and 
on the following day to Neapohs. 
We then came to the Roman colony 12 



THE ACTS XVI 



of Philippi, which is the foremost 
town of the district of Macedonia. 
In this town we spent some days. 

13 On the sabbath we went outside 
the gate to the bank of the river, 
where as usual there was a place of 
prayer; we sat down and talked 

14 to the women who had gathered. 
Among the listeners there was a 
woman called Lydia, a dealer in 
purple who belonged to the town 
of Thyatira. She reverenced God, 
and the Lord opened her heart to 

15 attend to what Paul said. When 
she was baptized, along with her 
household, she begged us, saying, 
" If you are convinced I am a 
believer in the Lord, come and stay 
at my house." She compelled us 
to come. 

16 Now it happened as we went to 
the place of prayer that a slave-girl 
met us, possessed by a spirit of 
ventriloquism, and a source of great 
profit to her owners by her power 

17 of fortune-telling. She followed 
Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, 
" These men are servants of the 
Most High God, they proclaim to 

18 you the way of salvation ! " She 
did this for a number of days. Then 
Paul turned in annoyance and told 
the spirit, " In the name of Jesus 
Christ I order you out of her ! " 
And it left her that very moment. 

19 But when her owners saw their 
chance of profit was gone, they 
caught hold of Paul and Silas and 
dragged them before the magistrates 

20 in the forum. Bringing them before 
the praetors they declared, " These 
fellows are Jews who are making 

21 an agitation in our town ; they are 
proclaiming customs which as Ro- 
mans we are not allowed to accept 

22 or observe ! " The crowd also 
joined in the attack upon them, 
while the praetors, after having 

168 



i 

251 



them stripped and after ordering 
them to be flogged with rods, had 23 
many lashes inflicted on them and 
put them into prison, charging the 
jailer to keep them safe. On re- 24 
ceiving so strict a charge, he put 
them into the inner prison and 
secured their feet in the stocks. 
But about midnight, as Paul and 
Silas were praying and singing to 
God, while the prisoners listened, 
all of a sudden there was a great 26 
earthquake which shook the very 
foundations of the prison ; the doors ^ 
all flew open in an instant and ijl 
the fetters of all the prisoners ** 
were unfastened. When the jailer 27 
started from his sleep and saw 
the prison-doors open, he drew 
his sword and was on the point 
of killing himself, supposing the 
prisoners had made their escape; 
but Paul shouted aloud, " Do 
not harm yourself, we are all 
here ! " So calling for lights he 
rushed in, fell in terror before Paul 
and Silas, and brought them out 
(after securing the other prisoners). 
" Sirs," he said, " what must I do 
to be saved?" "Believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ," they said, " and 
then you will be saved, you and 
your household as well." And 
they spoke the word of the Lord to 
him and to all in his house. Then 
he took them at that very hour of 
the night and washed their wounds 
and got baptized instantly, he and 
all his family. He took them up to 
his house and put food before them, 
overjoyed like all his household at 
having believed in God. When 
day broke, the praetors sent the 
hctors with the message, " Release 
these men." The jafler repeated 86 
this to Paul. " The praetors," he 
said, " have sent to release you. 
So come out and go in peace." But 37 



28 
29 
30 

31 

32 
33 

34 
35 



THE ACTS XVII 



Paul replied, " They flogged us in 
public and without a trial, flogged 
Roman citizens ! They put us in 
prison, and now they are going to 
get rid of us secretly ! No indeed ! 
Let them come here themselves 
88 and take us out ! " The hctors 
reported this to the praetors, who, 
on hearing the men were Roman 

39 citizens, got alarmed ; they went 
to appease them and after taking 
them out of prison begged them to 

40 leave the town. So they left the 
prison and went to Lydia's house 
where they saw the brothers and 
encouraged then>; then they de- 
parted. 



17 Travelling on through Amphi- 
polis and Apollonia they reached 
Thessalonica. Here there was a 

2 Jewish synagogue, and Paul as 
usual went in; for three sabbaths 
he argued with them on the scrip- 

3 tures, explaining and quoting pas- 
sages to prove that the messiah had 
to suffer and rise from the dead, 
and that " the Jesus I proclaim 

4 to you is the messiah." Some were 
persuaded and threw in their lot 
with Paul and Silas, including a host 
of devout Greeks and a large num- 

6 ber of the leading women. But the 
Jews were roused to jealousy; they 
got hold of some idle rascals to form 
a mob and set the town in an up- 
roar; they attacked Jason's house 
in the endeavour to bring them 

6 out before the populace, but as they 
failed to find Paul and Silas they 
haled Jason and some of the 
brothers before the politarchs, yel- 
ling, " These upsetters of the whole 

7 world have come here too ! Jason 
has welcomed them ! They all 
violate the decrees of Caesar by 
declaring someone else called Jesus 



is king." Both the crowd and the 8 
politarchs were disturbed when they 
heard this ; however they let Jason 9 
and the others go, after binding 
them over to keep the peace. Then 10 
the brothers at once sent off Paul 
and Silas by night to Beroea. 
When they arrived there, they be- 
took themselves to the Jewish syna- 
gogue, where the people were more 11 
amenable than at Thessalonica; 
they were perfectly ready to receive 
the Word and made a daily study 
of the scriptures to see if it was 
really as Paul said. Many of them 12 
believed, together with a large num- 
ber of prominent Greeks, both 
women and men. But when the 13 
Jews of Thessalonica heard that 
Paul was proclaiming the word of 
God at Beroea as well, they came 
to create a disturbance and a riot 
among the crowds at Beroea too. 
The brothers then sent off Paul at 14 
once on his way to the sea, while 
Silas and Timotheus remained 
where they were. Paul's escort 15 
brought him as far as Athens and 
left with instructions that Silas 
and Timotheus were to join him 
as soon as possible. 

While Paul was waiting for them 16 
at Athens, his soul was irritated at 
the sight of the idols that filled the 
city. He argued in the synagogue 17 
with the Jews and the devout prose- 
lytes and also in the marketplace 
daily with those who chanced to be 
present. Some of the Epicurean 18 
and Stoic philosophers also came 
across him. Some said, " Whatever 
does the fellow mean with his scraps 
of learning?" Others said, "He 
looks like a herald of foreign deities" 
(this was because he preached 
' Jesus ' and ' the Resurrection '). 
Then taking him to the Areopagus 19 
they asked, " May we know what 

169 



THE ACTS XVIII 



is this novel teaching of yours ? 

20 You talk of some things that sound 
strange to us ; so we want to know 

21 what they mean." (For all the 
Athenians and the foreign visitors 
to Athens occupied themselves with 
nothing else than repeating or listen- 

22 ing to the latest novelty.) So Paul 
stood in the middle of the Areo- 
pagus and said, " Men of Athens, 
I observe wherever I turn that you 

23 are a most religious people. Why, 
as I passed along and scanned 
your objects of worship, I actually 
came upon an altar with the 
inscription 

TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. 

Well, I proclaim to you what you 

24 worship in your ignorance. The God 
who made the world and all things 
in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, 
does not dwell in shrines that are 

25 made by human hands ; he is not 
served by human hands as if he 
needed anything, for it is he who 
gives life and breath and all things 

26 to all men. All nations he has 
created from a common origin, 
to dwell all over the earth, fixing 
their allotted periods and the 

27 boundaries of their abodes, meaning 
them to seek for God on the chance 
of finding him in their groping for 
him. Though indeed he is close to 

28 each one of us, for it is in him 
that we live and move and exist 
— as some of your own poets 
have said, 

' We too belong to His race.' 

29 Well, as the race of God, we ought 
not to imagine that the divine 
nature resembles gold or silver or 
stone, the product of human art 

80 and invention. Such ages of ignor- 
ance God overlooked, but he now 
charges men that they are all 
170 



everywhere to repent, inasmuch 81 
as he has fixed a day on which he 
will judge the world justly by a 
man whom he has destined for 
this. And he has given proof of 
this to all by raising him from the 
dead." But on hearing of a ' resur- 
rection of dead men,' some sneered, 
while others said, " We will hear 
you again on that subject." So 33 
Paul withdrew from them. Some 84 
men, however, did join him 
and believe, including Dionysius 
the Areopagite, a woman called 
Damaris, and some others, 

OHAP. 

After this Paul left Athens and 18 
went to Corinth. There he came 2 
across a Jew called Aquila, a native 
of Pontus who had recently arrived 
from Italy with his wife Priscilla, 
as Claudius had ordered all Jews to 
leave Rome. Paul accosted them, 
and as he belonged to the same 3 
trade he stayed with them and they 
all worked together. (They were 
workers in leather by trade.) 
Every sabbath he argued in the 4 
synagogue, persuading both Jews 
and Greeks. By the time Silas 5 
and Timotheus came south from 
Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in 
this preaching of the word, arguing 
to the Jews that the messiah was 
Jesus. But as they opposed and 6 
abused him, he shook out his gar- 
ments in protest, saying, " Your 
blood be on your own heads ! I 
am not responsible ! After this 
I will go to the Gentiles." Then 7 
he removed to the house of a de- 
vout proselyte called Titus Justus, 
which adjoined the synagogue. But 8 
Crispus the president of the syna- 
gogue believed in the Lord, as did 
all his household, and many of 
the Corinthians listened, believed, 



THE ACTS XIX 



9 and were baptized. And the Lord 
said to Paul in a vision by night, 
" Have no fear, speak on and never 

10 stop, jor I am with you, and no 
one will attack and injure you; I 
have many people in this city." 

11 So he settled there for a year and 
six months, teaching them the word 
of God. 

12 But when Gallio was proconsul 
of Achaia the Jews without excep- 
tion rose against Paul and brought 

13 him up before the tribunal, crying, 
" This fellow incites men to worship 

14 God contrary to the Law." Paul 
was just on the point of opening his 
lips to reply, when Gallio said to 
the Jews, " If it had been a mis- 
demeanour or wicked crime, there 
would be some reason in me listening 

15 to you, O Jews. But as these are 
merely questions of words and per- 
sons and your own Law, you can 
attend to them for yourselves. I 
decline to adjudicate upon matters 

16 like that." And he drove them 

17 from the tribunal. Then all [the 
Greeks] caught hold of Sosthenes 
the president of the synagogue and 
beat him in front of the tribunal; 
but Gallio took no notice. 

18 After waiting on for a number 
of days Paul said goodbye to the 
brothers and sailed for Syria, accom- 
panied by Priscilla and Aquila. 
(As the latter was under a vow, he 
had his head shaved at Cenchrese.) 

19 When they reached Ephesus Paul 
left them there. He went to the 
synagogue and argued with the 

20 Jews, who asked him to stay for a 
while. But he would not consent ; 

21 he said goodbye to them, telling 
them, " I will come back to you, 
if it is the will of God." Then, 

22 sailing from Ephesus, he reached 
Caesarea, went up to the capital to 
salute the church, and travelled 



down to Antioch. After spending 23 
some time there he went off on a 
journey right through the country 
of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthen- 
ing the disciples. 

There came to Ephesus a Jew 2-4 
called Apollos, who was a native of 
Alexandria, a man of culture, strong 
in his knowledge of the scriptures. 
He had been instructed in the Way 25 
of the Lord and he preached and 
taught about Jesus with ardour 
and accuracy, though all the bap- 
tism he knew was that of John. 
In the synagogue he was very out- 26 
spoken at first, but when Priscilla 
and Aquila listened to him, they 
took him home and explained more 
accurately to him what the Way of 
God really meant. As he wished to 27 
cross to Achaia, the brothers wrote 
and urged the disciples there to 
give him a welcome. And on his 
arrival he proved of great service 
to those who by God's grace had 
believed, for he publicly refuted the 28 
Jews with might and main, showing 
from the scriptures that the messiah 
was Jesus. 

CHAP. 

It was when Apollos was in 19 
Corinth that Paul, after passing 
through the inland districts, came 
down to Ephesus. There he found 
some disciples, whom he asked, 2 
" Did you receive the holy Spirit 
when you believed ? " " No," they 
said, " we never even heard of its 
existence." " Then," said he, 3 
" what were you baptized in ? " 
" In John's baptism," they replied. 
" John," said Paul, " baptized with 4 
a baptism of repentance, telling 
the people to believe in Him who 
was to come after him, that is, in 
Jesus." When they heard this, 5 
they had themselves baptized in 

171 



THE ACTS XIX 



6 the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
after Paul laid his hands on them 
the holy Spirit came upon them, 
they spoke with ' tongues ' and 

7 prophesied. They numbered all 
together about twelve men. 

8 Then Paul entered the synagogue 
and for three months spoke out 
fearlessly, arguing and persuading 
people about the Reign of God. 

9 But as some grew stubborn and 
disobedient, decrying the Way 
in presence of the multitude, he 
left them, withdrew the disciples, 
and continued his argument every 
day from eleven to four* in the 

10 lecture-room of Tyrannus. This 
went on for two years, so that all 
the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as 
well as Greeks, heard the word of 
the Lord. 

11 God also worked no ordinary 

12 miracles by means of Paul ; people 
even carried away towels or aprons 
he had used, and at their touch 
sick folk were freed from their 
diseases and evil spirits came out 

13 of them. Some strolling Jewish 
exorcists also undertook to pro- 
nounce the name of the Lord Jesus 
over those who had evil spirits, 
saying, " I adjure you by the Jesus 

14 whom Paul preaches ! " The seven 
sons of Sceuas, a Jewish high priest, 

15 used to do this. But the evil spirit 
retorted, " Jesus I know and Paul 
I know, but you — who are you?" 

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit 
resided leapt at them, overpowered 
them all, and belaboured them, 
till they rushed out of the house 

17 stripped and wounded. This came 
to the ears of all the inhabitants of 
Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks; 
awe fell on them all, and the name 
of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 

* The words airh &pas irefiirrrjs e«s Se/cc^Tijs 
D, etc.) are probably original. 
172 



Many believers would also come to 18 
confess and disclose their magic 
spells ; and numbers who had prac- 19 
tised magic arts collected their 
books and burned them in the 
presence of all. On adding up the 
value of them, it was found that 
they were worth two thousand 
pounds. 

Thus did the word of the Lord 20 
increase and prevail mightily. 

After these events Paul resolved 21 
in the Spirit to travel through 
Macedonia and Achaia on his way 
to Jerusalem. " After I get there," 
he said, " I must also visit Rome." 
So he despatched two of his assis- 22 
tants to Macedonia, Timotheus and 
Erastus, while he himself stayed on 
awhile in Asia. It was about that 23 
time that a great commotion arose 
over the Way. This was how it 24 
happened. By making silver shrines 
of Artemis a silversmith called 
Demetrius was the means of bring- 
ing rich profit to his workmen. So 25 
he got them together, along with the 
workmen who belonged to similar 
trades, and said to them : " My 
men, you know this trade is the 
source of our wealth. You also see 26 
and hear that not only at Ephesus 
but almost all over Asia this fellow 
Paul has drawn off a considerable 
number of people by his persuasions. 
He declares that hand-made gods 
are not gods at all. Now the 27 
danger is not only that we will 
have our trade discredited but that 
the temple of the great goddess 
Artemis will fall into contempt and 
that she will be degraded from her 
majestic glory, she whom all Asia 
and the wide world worship." 
When they heard this they were 28 
filled with rage and raised the cry, 
" Great is Artemis of Ephesus ! " 
So the city was filled with confusion. 29 



THE ACTS XX 



They rushed like one man into 
the amphitheatre, dragging along 
Gains and Aristarchus, Macedon- 
ians who were travelling with Paul. 

80 (Paul wanted to enter the popular 
assembly, but the disciples would 

SI not allow him. Some of the 
Asiarchs, who were friends of his, 
also sent to beg him not to venture 

82 into the amphitheatre.) Some were 
shouting one thing, some another; 
for the assembly was in confusion, 
and the majority had no idea why 

83 they had met. Some of the mob 
concluded it must be Alexander, 
as the Jews pushed him to the front. 
So Alexander motioning with his 
hand wanted to defend himself 

84 before the people; but when they 
discovered he was a Jew, a roar 
broke from them all, and for about 
two hours they shouted, " Great is 
Artemis of Ephesus ! Great is 

85 Artemis of Ephesus ! " The secre- 
tary of state then got the mob 
calmed down, and said to them, 
" Men of Ephesus, who on earth 
does not know that the city of 
Ephesus is Warden of the temple 
of the great Artemis and of the 

86 statue that fell from heaven ? All 
this is beyond question. So you 
should keep calm and do nothing 

87 reckless. Instead of that you have 
brought these men here who are 
guilty neither of sacrilege nor of 

88 blasphemy against our goddess. If 
Demetrius and his fellow trades- 
men have a grievance against any- 
body, let both parties state their 
charges; assizes are held and there 

89 are always the proconsuls. Any 
wider claim must be settled in 
the legal assembly of the citizens. 

40 Indeed there is a danger of our 
being charged with riot over to-day's 
meeting ; there is not a single reason 
we can give for this disorderly 



gathering." With these words he 41 
dismissed the assembly. 



OHAF. 



When the tumult had ceased, 20 
Paul sent for the disciples and 
encouraged them; he then took 
leave of them and went his way 
to Macedonia. After passing 2 
through the districts of Macedonia 
and encouraging the people at 
length, he came to Greece, where he 3 
spent three months. Just as he was 
on the point of sailing for Syria, 
the Jews laid a plot against him. 
He therefore resolved to return 
through Macedonia. His company 4 
as far as Asia consisted of Sopater 
of Beroea (the son of Pyrrhus), 
Aristarchus and Secundus from 
Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, 
Timotheus, and Tychicus and 
Trophimus from Asia. They went 5 
on to wait for us at Troas, while we 6 
sailed from Philippi, after the days 
of unleavened bread, and joined 
them five days later at Troas. There 
we spent seven days. On the first 7 
day of the week we met for the 
breaking of bread; Paul addressed 
them, as he was to leave next day, 
and he prolonged his address till 
midnight (there were plenty of 8 
lamps in the upper room where we 
met). In the window sat a young 9 
man called Eutychus, and as Paul's 
address went on and on, he got 
overcome with drowsiness, went 
fast asleep, and fell from the third 
storey. He was picked up a corpse, 
but Paul went downstairs, threw 10 
himself upon him, and embraced 
him. " Do not lament," he said, 
" the Hfe is still in him." Then he 11 
went upstairs, broke bread, and 
ate ; finally, after conversing awhile 
with them till the dawn, he went 
away. As for the lad, they took 12 

173 



THE ACTS XXI 



him away alive, much to their 

13 relief. Now we had gone on 
beforehand to the ship and set sail 
for Assos, intending to take Paul 
on board there. This was his own 
arrangement, for he intended to 

14 travel by land. So when he met 
us at Assos, we took him on board 

15 and got to Mitylene. Sailing thence 
on the following day we arrived 
off Chios ; next day we crossed over 
to Samos, and [after stopping at 
Trogyllium] we went on next day 

16 to Miletus. This was because Paul 
had decided to sail past Ephesus, to 
avoid any loss of time in Asia; he 
wanted to reach Jerusalem, if pos- 
sible, by the day of Pentecost. 

17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus 
for the presbyters of the church. 

18 When they came to him, he said, 
" You know quite well how I lived 
among you all the time ever since 

19 I set foot in Asia, how I served 
the Lord in all humility, with many 
a tear and many a trial which I en- 
countered owing to the plots of the 

20 Jews, how I never shrank from let- 
ting you know anything for your 
good, or from teaching you alike in 

21 public and from house to house, bear- 
ing my testimony both to Jews and 
Greeks of repentance before God 
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

22 Now here I go to Jerusalem under 
the binding force of the Spirit. 
What will befall me there I do 

23 not know. Only, I know this, that 
in town after town the holy Spirit 
testifies to me that bonds and 

24 troubles are awaiting me. But 
then, I set no value on my own 
life as compared with the joy of 
finishing my course and fulfilling 
the commission I received from 
the Lord Jesus to attest the gospel 

25 of the grace of God. I know to- 
day that not one of you will ever 

174 



see my face again — not one of 
you among whom I moved as I 
preached the Reign. Therefore do 26 
I protest before you this day that I 
am not responsible for the blood of 
any of you ; I never shrank from 27 
letting you know the entire purpose 
of God. Take heed to yourselves 28 
and to all the flock of which the 
holy Spirit has appointed you 
guardians; shepherd the church of 
the Lord which he has purchased 
with his own blood. I know that 29 
when I am gone, fierce wolves will 
get in among you, and they will 
not spare the flock; yes, and men 30 
of your own number will arise with 
perversions of the truth to draw 
the disciples after them. So be on 31 
the alert, remember how for three 
whole years I never ceased night 
and day to watch over each one of 
you with tears. And now I entrust 32 
you to God and the word of his 
grace; he is able to upbuild you 
and give you your inheritance among 
all the consecrated. Silver, gold, or 33 
apparel I never coveted ; you know 34 
yourselves how these hands of mine 
provided everything for my own 
needs and for my companions. I 35 
showed you how this was the way 
to work hard and succour the needy, 
remembering the words of the Lord 
Jesus, who said, ' To give is happier 
than to get.' " With these words he 36 
knelt down and prayed beside them 
all. They all broke into loud lament- 37 
ation and falling upon the neck of 
Paul kissed him fondly, sorrowing 38 
chiefly because he told them they 
would never see his face again. 
Then they escorted him to the ship. 

CHAP. 

When we had torn ourselves 21 
away from them and set sail, we 
made a straight run to Cos, next 



THE ACTS XXI 



day to Rhodes, and thence to 

2 Patara ; as we found a ship there 
bound for Phoenicia, we went on 

3 board and set sail. After sighting 
Cyprus and leaving it on our left, 
we sailed for Syria, landing at Tyre 
where the ship was to unload her 

4 cargo. We found out the local 
disciples and stayed there for seven 
days. These disciples told Paul by 
the Spirit not to set foot in Jeru- 

5 salem ; but, when our time was up, 
we started on our journey, escorted 
by them, women and children and 
all, till we got outside the town. 
Then, kneeling on the beach, we 

6 prayed and said goodbye to one 
another. We went on board and 

7 they went home. By sailing from 
Tyre to Ptolemais we completed 
our voyage; we saluted the brothers, 

8 spent a day with them, and started 
next morning for Caesarea, where 
we entered the house of Philip 

9 the evangelist (he belonged to the 
Seven, and had four unmarried 
daughters who prophesied). We 

10 stayed with him. While we re- 
mained there for a number of days, 
a prophet called Agabus came down 

11 from Judaea. He came to us, took 
Paul's girdle and bound his own 
feet and hands, saying, " Here is 
the word of the holy Spirit : ' So 
shall the Jews bind the owner of 
this girdle at Jerusalem and hand 

12 him over to the Gentiles '." Now 
when we heard this, we and the 
local disciples besought Paul not to 

13 go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul 
replied, " What do you mean by 
weeping and disheartening me ? I 
am ready not only to be bound but 
also to die at Jerusalem for the 

14 sake of the Lord Jesus." As he 
would not be persuaded, we ac- 
quiesced, saying, " The will of the 
Lord be done." 



After these days we packed up 15 
and started for Jerusalem, accom- 16 
panied by some of the disciples 
from Caesarea, who conducted us to 
the house of Mnason, a Cypriote, 
with whom we were to lodge. He 
was a disciple of old standing. 

The brothers welcomed us gladly 17 
on our arrival at Jerusalem. Next 18 
day we accompanied Paul to 
James; all the presbyters were 
present, and after saluting them 19 
Paul described in detail what God 
had done by means of his ministry 
among the Gentiles. They glorified 20 
God when they heard it. Then 
they said to him, " Brother, you 
see how many thousands of be- 
lievers there are among the Jews, 
all of them ardent upholders of the 
Lord. Now they have heard that 21 
you teach Jews who live among 
Gentiles to break away from Moses 
and not to circumcise their children, 
nor to follow the old customs. 
What is to be done ? They will 22 
be sure to hear you have arrived.* 
So do as we tell you. We have 23 
four men here under a vow; asso- 24 
ciate yourself with them, purify 
yourself with them, pay their ex- 
penses so that they may be free to 
have their heads shaved, and then 
everybody will understand there is 
nothing in these stories about you, 
but that, on the contrary, you are 
guided by obedience to the Law. 
As for Gentile believers, we have 25 
issued our decision that they must 
avoid food that has been offered 
to idols, the taste of blood, flesh of 
animals that have been strangled, 
and sexual vice." Then Paul 26 
associated himself with the men 
next day; he had himself purified 
along with them and went into 

* Omitting [8ci irXrjeos ffvvt\euy] and 

170 



THE ACTS XXII 



the temple to give notice of the 
time when the days of 'purification 
would be completed — the time, 
that is to say, when the sacrifice 
could be offered for each one of 
them. 

27 The seven days were almost over 
when the Asiatic Jews, catching 
sight of him in the temple, stirred 
up all the crowd and laid hands on 

28 him, shouting, " To the rescue, 
men of Israel ! Here is the man 
who teaches everyone everywhere 
against the People and the Law and 
this Place ! And he has actually 
brought Greeks inside the temple 

29 and defiled this holy Place ! " (They 
had previously seen Trophimus 
the Ephesian along with him in 
the city, and they supposed Paul 
had taken him inside the temple.) 

30 The whole city was thrown into 
turmoil. The people rushed to- 
gether, seized Paul and dragged him 
outside the temple ; whereupon the 

31 doors were immediately shut. They 
were attempting to kill him when 
word reached the commander of the 
garrison that the whole of Jerusalem 

32 was in confusion. Taldng some 
soldiers and officers, he at once 
rushed down to them, and when 
they saw the commander and the 
soldiers they stopped beating Paul. 

33 Then the commander came up and 
seized him; he ordered him to be 
bound with a couple of chains, and 
asked " Who is he? " and " What 

34 has he done ? " Some of the crowd 
roared one thing, some another, 
and as he could not learn the facts 
owing to the uproar, he ordered 
Paul to be taken to the barracks. 

35 By the time he reached the steps, 
he had actually to be carried by 
the soldiers on account of the 

36 violence of the crowd, for the whole 
mass of the people followed shout- 

176 



ing, " Away with him ! " Just as 
he was being taken into the barracks, 
Paul said to the commander, " May 
I say a word to you ? " "You know 
Greek ! " said the commander. 
" Then you are not the Egyptian 
who in days gone by raised the four 
thousand assassins and led them 
out into the desert ? " Paul said, 
" I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus 
in Cilicia, the citizen of a famous 
town. Pray let me speak to 
the people." As he gave per- 
mission, Paul stood on the steps 
and motioned to the people. A 
great hush came over them, and 
he addressed them as follows 
in Hebrew. 



37 



38 



39 ;, 



4 



40 



I 



CHAP. 

" Brothers and fathers, listen 22 
to the defence I now make before 
you." When they heard him 2 
addressing them in Hebrew they 
were all the more quiet. So he 
went on. "I am a Jew, born at 3 
Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up 
in this city, educated at the feet 
of Gamaliel in all the stictness of 
our ancestral Law, ardent for God 
as you all are to-day. I persecuted 4 
this Way of religion to the death, 
chaining and imprisoning both men 
and women, as the high priest and 5 
all the council of elders can testify. 
It was from them that I got letters 
to the brotherhood at Damascus 
and then journeyed thither to bind 
those who had gathered there and 
bring them back to Jerusalem for 
punishment. Now as I neared 6 
Damascus on my journey, sud- 
denly about noon a brilliant light 
from heaven flashed round me. I 7 
dropped to the earth and heard a 
voice saying to me, ' Saul, Saul, why 
do you persecute me ? ' ' Who are 8 
you ? ' I asked. He said to me, * I 



THE ACTS XXIII 



am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are 

9 persecuting me.* (My companions 

saw the hght, but they did not hear 

the voice of him who talked to me.) 

10 I said, ' What am I to do ? ' And the 
Lord said to me, ' Get up and make 
your way into Damascus; there 
you will be told about all you are 

11 destined to do.' As I could not see 
owing to the dazzling glare of that 
light, my companions took my hand 

12 and so I reached Damascus. Then 
a certain Ananias, a devout man in 
the Law, who had a good reputation 
among all the Jewish inhabitants, 

13 came to me and standing beside me 
said, * Saul, my brother, regain 
your sight ! ' The same moment 
I regained my sight and looked up 

14 at him. Then he said, ' The God 
of our fathers has appointed you to 
know his will, to see the Just One, 
and to hear him speak with his own 

15 lips. For you are to be a witness 
for him before all men, a witness 
of what you have seen and heard. 

16 And now, why do you wait ? Get 
up and be baptized and wash away 
your sins, calling on his name.' 

17 When I returned to Jerusalem, it 
happened that while I was praying 
in the temple I fell into a trance 

18 and saw Him saying to me, ' Make 
haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for 
they will not accept your evidence 

19 about me.' ' But, Lord,' I said, 
'they surely know it was I who 
imprisoned and flogged those who 
believed in you throughout the 
synagogues, and that I stood and 

20 approved when the blood of your 
martyr Stephen was being shed, 
taking charge of the clothes of his 

21 murderers ! ' But he said to me, 
' Go ; I will send you afar to the 

22 Gentiles ' " Till he said that, 

they had listened to him. But at 
that they shouted, " Away with 



such a creature from the earth! 
He is not fit to live ! " They yelled 23 
and threw their clothes into the air 
and flung dust about, till the com- 24 
mander ordered him to be taken 
inside the barracks and examined 
under the lash, so as to find out why 
the people shouted at him in this 
way. They had strapped him up, 25 
when Paul said to the officer who 
was standing by, '' Are you allowed 
to scourge a Roman citizen — and 
to scourge him without a trial ? " 
When the officer heard this, he went 26 
to the commander and said to him, 
" What are you going to do ? This 
man is a Roman citizen." So the 27 
commander went to him and said, 
" Tell me, are you a Roman 
citizen?" "Yes," he said. The 28 
commander replied, " I had to pay 
a large sum for this citizenship." 
" But I was born a citizen," said 
Paul. Then those who were to have 29 
examined him left him at once 
alone; even the commander was 
alarmed to find Paul was a Roman 
citizen and that he had bound 
him. 

Next day, as he was anxious to 30 
find out the real reason why the 
Jews accused him, he unbound him, 
ordered the high priests and all the 
Sanhedrin to meet, and brought 
Paul down, placing him in front of 
them. With a steady look at the 23 
Sanhedrin Paul said, " Brothers, I 
have lived with a perfectly good 
conscience before God down to 
the present day." Then the high 2 
priest Ananias ordered those who 
were standing next Paul to strike 
him on the mouth. At this Paul 3 
said to him, " You whitewashed 
wall, God will strike you ! You 
sit there to judge me by the Law, 
do you ? And you break the Law 
by ordering me to be struck ! " The 4 

177 



THE ACTS XXIII 



bystanders said, " What I would you 

5 rail at God's high priest ? " " Bro- 
thers," said Paul, " I did not know 
he was high priest" (for it is written, 
You must not speak evil of any ruler 

6 of your people). Then, finding half 
the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and 
the other half Pharisees, Paul 
shouted to them, " I am a Phari- 
see, brothers, the son of Pharisees I 
It is for the hope of the resurrection 
from the dead that I am on trial ! " 

7 When he said this, a quarrel broke 
out between the Pharisees and 
the Sadducees; the meeting was 

8 divided. For while the Sadducees 
declare there is no such thing as 
resurrection, angels, or spirits, the 
Pharisees affirm them all. Thus a 
loud clamour broke out. Some of 
the scribes who belonged to the 
Pharisaic party got up and con- 
tended, " We find nothing wrong 
about this man. What if some 
spirit or angel has spoken to him ? " 

10 The quarrel then became so violent 
that the commander was afraid they 
would tear Paul in pieces ; he there- 
fore ordered the troops to march 
down and take him from them by 
force, bringing him inside the 

11 barracks. On the following night 
the Lord stood by Paul and said, 
" Courage ! As you have testified 
to me at Jerusalem, so you must 
testify at Rome." 

12 When day broke, the Jews formed 
a conspiracy, taking a solemn oath 
neither to eat nor to drink till 

13 they had killed Paul. There were 
more than forty of them in this 

14 plot. They then went to the 
high priests and elders, saying, 
" We have taken a solemn oath to 
taste no food till we have killed 

15 Paul. Now you and the Sanhedrin 
must inform the commander that 
you pufopose to investigate this case 

178 



in detail, so that he may have 
Paul brought down to you. We 
will be all ready to kill him on the 
way down." Now Paul's nephew 16 
heard about their treacherous am- 
bush; so he got admission to the 
barracks and told Paul. Paul 17 
summoned one of the officers and 
said, " Take this young man to the 
commander, for he has some news 
to give him." So the officer took 18 
him to the commander, saying, 
" The prisoner Paul has summoned 
me to ask if I would bring this 
young man to you, as he has some- 
thing to tell you." The commander 19 
then took him by the hand aside 
and asked him in private, " What 
is the news you have for me ? " 
He answered, " The Jews have 20 
agreed to ask you to bring Paul 
down to-morrow to the Sanhedrin, 
on the plea that they* propose to 
examine his case in detail. Now 21 
do not let them persuade you. 
More than forty of them are lying 
in ambush for him, and they have 
taken a solemn oath neither to eat 
nor to drink till they have murdered 
him. They are all ready at this 
moment, awaiting your consent." 
Then the commander dismissed the 22 
youth, bidding him " Tell nobody 
that you have informed me of this." 
He summoned two of the officers 23 
and said, " Get ready by nine o'clock 
to-night two hundred infantry to 
march as far as Caesarea, also 
seventy troopers, and two hundred 
spearmen." Horses were also to be 24 
provided, on which they were to 
mount Paul and carry him safe to 
Felix the governor. He then wrote 25 
a letter in the following terms. 

* Reading either /xiwovres with the 
Latin, Syriac, Sahidic, and Ethiopia 
versions, or /xeX\6vTa)v {^^t Chrysoetojn, 
and some minuscules). 



I 



^. 



THE ACTS XXIV 



26 " Claudius Lysias, to his excellency 

27 the governor Felix : greeting. This 
man had been seized by the Jevv^s 
and was on the point of being mur- 
dered by them, when I came on 
them with the troops and rescued 
him, as I had ascertained that he 

28 was a Roman citizen. Anxious to 
find out why they accused him, 
I took him down to their Sanhedrin, 

29 where I found he was accused of 
matters relating to their Law but 
not impeached for any crime that 
deserved death or imprisonment. 

80 I am informed a plot is to be laid 
against him, so I am sending him 
to you at once,* telling his accusers 
that they must impeach him before 

31 you. Farewell." The soldiers, 
according to their instructions, 
took Paul and brought him by 

32 night to Antipatris. Next day 
the infantry returned to their bar- 

33 racks, leaving the troopers to ride 
on with him. They reached 
Caesarea, presented the letter to 
the governor, and also handed Paul 

34 over to him. On reading the 
letter he asked what province he 
belonged to, and finding it was 

35 Cilicia he said, " I will go into 
your case whenever your accusers 
arrive," giving orders that he was 
to be kept in the praetorium of 
Herod, 

CHAP. 

24 Five days later down came the 
high priest Ananias with some 
elders and a barrister called Ter- 
tuUus. They laid information be- 
fore the governor a^gainst Paul. 
2 So Paul was summoned, and then 
Tertullus proceeded to accuse him. 
" Your excellency," he said to 
Felix, " as it is owing to you that 

* Beading i^avrris instead of i^ avruy. 



we enjoy unbroken peace, and as 
it is owing to your wise care that 
the state of this nation has been 
improved in every way and every- 
where, we acknowledge all this with 3 
profound gratitude. I have no wish 4 
to weary you, but I beg of you to 
grant us in your courtesy a brief 
hearing. The fact is, we have 5 
found this man is a perfect pest; 
he stirs up sedition among the 
Jews all over the world and he is 
a ringleader of the Nazarene sect. 
He actually tried to desecrate the 6 
temple, but we got hold of him. 
Examine him for yourself and you 8 
will be able to find out about all 
these charges of ours against him." 
The Jews joined in the attack, 9 
declaring that such were the facts 
of the case. Then at a nod from 10 
the governor Paul made his reply. 
" As I know you have administered 
justice in this nation for a number 
of years," he said, " I feel encour- 
aged to make my defence, because 11 
it is not more than twelve days, as 
you can easily ascertain, since I went 
up to worship at Jerusalem. They 12 
never found me arguing with any- 
one in the temple or causing a riot 
either in the synagogues or in the 
city ; they cannot furnish you with 13 
any proof of their present charges 
against me. I certainly admit to 14 
you that I worship our fathers' 
God according to the methods of 
what they call a ' sect ' ; but I be- 
lieve all that is written in the Law 
and in the prophets, and I cherish 15 
the same hope in God as they 
accept, namely that there is to be 
a resurrection of the just and the 
unjust. Hence I too endeavour 16 
to have a clear conscience before 
God and men all the time. After 17 
a lapse of several years I came up 
with alms and offerings for my 

179 



THE ACTS XXV 



18 nation,* and it was in presenting 
these that I was found within the 
temple. I was ceremonially pure, 
I was not mixed up in any mob or 
riot; no, the trouble was caused 

19 by some Jews from Asia, who 
ought to have been here before 
you with any charge they may 

20 have against me. Failing them, 
let these men yonder tell what 
fault they found with my appear- 

21 ance before the Sanhedrin ! — unless 
it was with the single sentence I 
uttered, when I stood and said, 
' It is for the resurrection of the 
dead that I am on my trial to-day 

22 before you.' " As Felix had a 
pretty accurate knowledge of the 
Way, he remanded Paul, telling 
the Jews, " When Lysias the com- 
mander comes down, I will decide 

23 your case." He gave orders to the 
officer to have Paul kept in custody 
but to allow him some freedom 
and not to prevent any of his own 
people from rendering him any 
service. 

24 Some days later Felix arrived 
with his wife Drusilla, who was a 
Jewess. He sent for Paul and 
heard what he had to say about 

25 faith in Christ Jesus; but when 
he argued about morality, self- 
mastery, and the future judgment, 
Felix grew uneasy. " You may go 
for the present," he said; "when 
I can find a moment, I will send for 

26 you " (though at the same time 
he hoped Paul would give him a 
bribe). So he did send for him 
pretty frequently and conversed 

27 with him. But when two years 

* It is hardly possible to make sens© of 
the following Greek text, and none of 
the various readings or of the emendations 
that have been proposed is entirely satis- 
factory. All one can do is to reproduce 
the general drift of the passage. 
180 



had elapsed, Felix was succeeded 
by Porcius Festus, and as Felix 
wanted to ingratiate himself with 
the Jews, he left Paul still in cus- 
tody. 



Three days after Festus entered 25 [ 
his province, he went up from 
Caesarea to Jerusalem. The high 2 
priests and the Jewish leaders laid 
information before him against 
Paul, and begged him, as a special 3 
favour, to send for him to Jeru- 
salem, meaning to lay an ambush 
for him and murder him on the 
road. Festus replied that Paul 4 
would be kept in custody at Caes- 
area, but that he himself meant to , 
leave for Caesarea before long — 
" when," he added, " your compe- 5 
tent authorities can come down 
with me and charge the man with 
whatever crime he has committed." 
After staying not more than eight or 6 
ten days with them, he went down 
to Caesarea. Next day he took his 
seat on the tribunal and ordered 
Paul to be brought before him. 
When he arrived, the Jews who 7 
had come down from Jerusalem 
surrounded him and brought a 
number of serious charges against 
him, none of which they were able 
to prove. Paul's defence was, " I 8 
have committed no offence against 
the Law of the Jews, against the 
temple, or against Caesar." As 9 
Festus wanted to ingratiate him- 
self with the Jews, he asked Paul, 
" Will you go up to Jerusalem and 
be tried there by me upon these 
charges ? " Paul said, " I am 10 
standing before Caesar's tribunal; 
that is where I ought to be tried. 
I have done no wrong whatever to 
the Jews — you know that perfectly 
well. If I am a criminal, if I have 11 



THE ACTS XXVI 



done anything that deserves death, 
I do not object to die; but if there 
is nothing in any of their charges 
against me, then no one can give 
me up to them. I appeal to 

12 Caesar ! " Then, after conferring 
with the council, Festus answered, 
" You have appealed to Caesar ? 
Very well, you must go to Caesar ! " 

13 Some days had passed, when 
king Agrippa and Bernice came to 
Caesarea to pay their respects to 

14 Festus. As they were spending 
several days there, Festus laid 
Paul's case before the king. " There 
is a man," he said, " who was left 

15 in prison by Felix. When I was 
at Jerusalem, the high priests and 
elders of the Jews informed me 
about him and demanded his con- 

16 demnation. I told them Romans 
were not in the habit of giving up 
any man until the accused met the 
accusers face to face and had a 
chance of defending himself against 

17 the impeachment. Well, the day 
after they came here along with 
me, I took my seat on the tribunal 
without any loss of time. I ordered 

18 the man to be brought in, but when 
his accusers stood up they did not 
charge him with any of the crimes 

19 that I had expected. The questions 
at issue referred to their own religion 
and to a certain Jesus who had 

20 died. Paul said he was alive. As I 
felt at a loss about the method of 
inquiry into such topics, I asked 
if he would go to Jerusalem and 
be tried there on these charges. 

21 But Paul entered an appeal for 
his case to be reserved for the de- 
cision of the emperor ; so I ordered 
him to be detained till I could remit 

22 him to Caesar." " I should like to 
hear the man myself," said Agrippa 
to Festus. " You shall hear him 
to-morrowg" said Festus, 



So next day Agrippa and Bernice 23 
proceeded with great pomp to the 
hall of audience, accompanied by 
the military commanders and the 
prominent civilians of the town. 
Festus then ordered Paul to be 
brought in. " King Agrippa and 24 
all here present," said Festus, " you 
see before you a man of whom the 
entire body of the Jews at Jerusa- 
lem and also here have complained 
to me. They loudly insist he ought 
not to live any longer. I could not 25 
find he had done anything that 
deserved death, so I decided to 
send him, on his own appeal, to 
the emperor. Only, I have nothing 26 
definite to write to the sovereign 
about him. So I have brought 
him up before you all, and especially 
before you, O king Agrippa, in 
order that I rnay get something to 
write as the result of your cross- 
examination. For it seems absurd 27 
to me to forward a prisoner without 
notifying the particulars of his 
charge." Then Agrippa said to 26 
Paul, " You have our permission to 
speak upon your own behalf." At 
this Paul stretched out his hand 
and began his defence. " I consider 2 
myself fortunate, king Agrippa, in 
being able to defend myself to-day 
before you against all that the Jews 
charge me with; for you are well 8 
acquainted with all Jewish customs 
and questions. Pray listen to me 
then with patience. How I lived 4 
from my youth up among my own 
nation and at Jerusalem, all that 
early career of mine, is known to all 
the Jews. They know me of old. 5 
They know, if they chose to admit 
it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the 
principles of the strictest party in 
our religion. To-day I am standing 6 
my trial for hoping in the promise 
made by God to our fathers, a 7 

ISl 



THE ACTS XXVI 



promise which our twelve tribes 
hope to gain by serving God earnestly 
both night and day. And I am 
actually impeached by Jews for 
9 this hope, O king I I once believed 
it my duty indeed actively to 
oppose the name of Jesus the 

10 Nazarene. I did so in Jerusalem. 
I shut up many of the saints in 
prison, armed with authority from 
the high priests; when they were 
put to death, I voted against them ; 

11 there was not a synagogue where 
I did not often punish them and 
force them to blaspheme; and in 
my frantic fury I persecuted them 

12 even to foreign towns. I was 
travelling to Damascus on this 
business, with authority and a 
commission from the high priests, 

13 when at mid-daj^ on the road, O 
king, I saw a light from heaven, 
more dazzling than the sun, flash 
round me and my fellow-travellers. 

14 We all fell to the ground, and I 
heard a voice saying to me in 
Hebrew, ' Saul, Saul, why do you 
persecute me? You hurt yourself 

15 by kicking at the goad.' ' Who are 
you ? ' I asked. And the Lord 
said, ' I am Jesus, and you are 

16 persecuting me. Now get up and 
stand on your feet, for I have ap- 
peared to you in order to appoint 
you to my service as a witness to 
what you have seen and to the 

17 visions you will have of me. / will 
rescue you from the People and 
also from the Gentiles — to whom I 

18 send you, that their eyes may he 
opened and that they may turn 
from darkness to light, from the 
power of Satan to God, to get 
remission of their sins and an 
inheritance among those who are 

19 consecrated by faith in me.' Upon 
this, O king Agrippa, I did not 

20 disobey the heavenly vision ; I 

182 



announced to those at Damascus 
and at Jerusalem in the first in- 
stance, then all over the land of 
Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, 
that they were to repent and turn 
to God by acting up to their repen- 
tance. This is why the Jews seized 211 
me in the temple and tried to assassi- 
nate me. To this day I have had 22 1i 
the help of God in standing, as I 
now do, to testify alike to low and 
high, never uttering a single syll- 
able beyond what the prophets and 
Moses predicted was to take place. 
Why should you consider it in- 8 
credible that God raises the dead,* 
that the Christ is capable of suffer- 23 
ing, and that he should be the first 
to rise from the dead and bring 
the message of light to the People 
and to the Gentiles ? " When he 24 
brought this forward in his defence, 
Festus called out, " Paul, you are 
quite mad ! Your great learning 
is driving you insane." " Your 25 
excellency," said Paul to Festus, 
" I am not mad, I am speaking 
the sober truth. Why, the king 26 
is well aware of this ! To the 
king I can speak without the 
slightest hesitation. I do not 
believe any of it has escaped 
his notice, for this was not done 
in a corner. King Agrippa, you 27 
believe the prophets ? I know you 
do." " At this rate," Agrippa re- 28 
marked, " it won't be long before 
you believe you have made a 
Christian of me ! " " Long or 29 
short," said Paul, " I would to 
God that not only you but all 
my hearers to-day could be what 
I am — barring these chains ! " 
Then the king rose, with the gover- 30 
nor and Bernice and those who had 
been seated beside them. They 81 

* Restoring ver. 8 to its original 
position at the beginning of ver. 23. 



THE ACTS XXVII 



retired to discuss the affair, and 
agreed that " this man has done 
nothing to deserve death or im- 
82 prisonment." " He might have 
been released," said Agrippa to 
Festus, "if he had not appealed 
to Caesar." 

OHAP. 

27 When it was decided we were to 
sail for Italy, Paul and some other 
prisoners were handed over to an 
officer of the Imperial regiment 

2 called Julius. Embarking in an 
Andramyttian ship which was 
bound for the Asiatic seaports, we 
set sail, accompanied by a Mace- 
donian from Thessalonica called 

3 Aristarchus. Next day we put in 
at Sidon, where Julius very kindly 
allowed Paul to visit his friends and 

4 be looked after. Putting to sea 
from there, we had to sail under 
the lee of Cyprus as the wind was 

5 against us ; then, sailing over the 
Cilician and Pamphylian waters, 

6 we came to Myra in Lycia. There 
the officer found an Alexandrian 
ship bound for Italy, and put us on 

7 board of her. For a number of 
days we made a slow passage and 
had great difficulty in arriving off 
Cnidus; then, as the wind checked 
our progress, we sailed under the 

8 lee of Crete off Cape Salmon^, and 
coasting along it with great difficulty 
we reached a place called Fair 
Havens, not far from the town of 

9 Lasea. By this time it was far on in 
the season and sailing had become 
dangerous (for the autumn Fast was 
past), so Paul warned them thus : 

10 Men," said he, " I see this voyage 
is going to be attended with hard- 
ship and serious loss not only to 
the cargo and the ship but also to 

11 our own lives." However the 
officer let himsTelf be persuaded 



by the captain and the owner 
rather than by anything Paul could 
say, and, as the harbour was badly 12 
placed for wintering in, the majority 
proposed to set sail and try if they 
could reach Phoenix and winter 
there (Phoenix is a Cretan harbour 
facing S.W. and N.W.). When a 13 
moderate southerly breeze sprang 
up, they thought they had secured 
their object, and after weighing 
anchor they sailed along the coast 
of Crete, close inshore. Presently 14 
down rushed a hurricane of a wind 
called Euroclydon; the ship was 15 
caught and unable to face the wind, 
so we gave up and let her drive 
along. Running under the lee of 16 
a small island called Clauda we 
managed with great difficulty to 
get the boat hauled in ; once it was 17 
hoisted aboard, they used ropes* to 
undergird the ship, and in fear of 
being stranded on the Syrtis they 
lowered the sail and lay to. As 18 
we were being terribly battered by 
the storm, they had to jettison the 
cargo next day, while two days 19 
later they threw the ship's gear 
overboard with their own hands; 
for many days neither sun nor stars 20 
could be seen, the storm raged 
heavily, and at last we had to give 
up all hope of being saved. When 21 
they had gone without food for a 
long time, Paul stood up among 
them and said, " Men, you should 
have listened to me and spared 
yourselves this hardship and loss 
by refusing to set sail from Crete. 
I now bid you cheer up. There 22 
will be no loss of life, only of the 
ship. For last night an angel of 23 
the God I belong to and serve, 
stood before me, saying, ' Have no 24 

* Naber's conjecture $oeiais for the 
fiovffelais of the MSS. yitsMs iAaB iefJOjeUeiit 

183 



THE ACTS XXVIII 



fear, Paul; you must stand before 
Caesar. And God has granted you 
the lives of all your fellow-voya- 

25 gers.' Cheer up, men ! I believe 
God, I believe it will turn out just 

26 as I have been told. However, 
we are to be stranded on an 
island." 

27 When the fourteenth night 
arrived, we were drifting about in 
the sea of Adria when the sailors 
about midnight suspected land was 

28 near. On taking soundings they 
found twenty fathoms, and a little 
further on, when they sounded 

29 again, they found fifteen. Then, 
afraid of being stranded on the 
rocks, they let go four anchors 
from the stern and longed for 

30 daylight. The sailors tried to 
escape from the ship. They had 
even lowered the boat into the sea, 
pretending they were going to lay 

31 out anchors from the bow, when 
Paul said to the officer and the 
soldiers, " You cannot be saved 
unless these men stay by the 

32 ship." Then the soldiers cut away 
the ropes of the boat and let her 

33 fall off. Just before daybreak Paul 
begged them all to take some 
food. " For fourteen days," he 
said, " you have been on the watch 
all the time, without a proper 

34 meal. Take some food then, I 
beg of you ; it will keep you alive. 
You are going to be saved ! Not 
a hair of your heads will perish." 

35 With these words he took a loaf 
and after thanking God broke and 

36 ate it in presence of them all. Then 
they all cheered up and took food 

37 for themselves (there were about* 
seventy-six souls of us on board, 

38 all told) ; and when they had eaten 
their fill, they lightened the ship 

* Reading &5 (B and Sahidic version) 

for Sia/crfcTiflU. 

1S4 



by throwing the wheat into the sea. 
When day broke, they could not 
recognize what land it was; how- 
ever they noticed a creek with a 
sandy beach, and resolved to see 
if they could run the ship ashore 
there. So the anchors were cut 
away and left in the sea, while the 
crew unlashed the ropes that tied 
the rudders, hoisted the foresail to 
the breeze, and headed for the 
beach. Striking a reef, they drove 
the ship aground ; the prow jammed 
fast, but the stern began to break 
up under the beating of the waves. 
Now the soldiers resolved to kill 42 
the prisoners, in case any of them 
swam off and escaped, but as the 43 
officer wanted to save Paul, he put 
a stop to their plan, ordering 
those who could swim to jump over- 
board first and get to land, while 44 
the rest were to manage with 
planks or pieces of wreckage. 
In this way it turned out that 
the whole company got safe to 
land. 



It was only after our escape 28 
that we found out the island was 
called Malta. The natives showed 2 
us uncommon kindness, for they lit 
a fire and welcomed us all to it, as the 
rain had come on and it was chilly. 
Now Paul had gathered a bundle 3 
of sticks and laid them on the fire, 
when a viper crawled out with the 
heat and fastened on his hand. 
When the natives saw the creature 4 
hanging from his hand, they said 
to each other, " This man must be 
a murderer ! He has escaped the 
sea, but Justice will not let him 
live." However, he shook off the 
creature into the fire and was not 
a whit the worse. The natives 6 
waited for him to swell up or drop 



THE ACTS XXVIII 



down dead in a moment, but after 
waiting a long while and observing 
that no harm had befallen him, they 
changed their minds and declared 
he was a god. 

7 There was an estate in the neigh- 
bourhood which belonged to a man 
called Publius, the governor of the 
island ; he welcomed us and enter- 
tained us hospitably for three days. 

8 His father, it so happened, was laid 
up with fever and dysentery, but 
Paul went in to see him and after 
prayer laid his hands on him and 

9 cured him. When this had hap- 
pened, the rest of the sick folk in 
the island also came and got cured ; 

10 they made us rich presents and fur- 
nished us, when we set sail, with all 
we needed. 

11 We set sail, after three months, 
in an Alexandrian ship, with the 
Dioscuri on her figure-head, which 

12 had wintered at the island. We 
put in at Syracuse and stayed for 

13 three days. Then tacking round 
we reached Rhegium; next day 
a south mnd sprang up which 
brought us in a day to Puteoli, 

14 where we came across some of the 
brotherhood, who invited us to 
stay a week with them. 

In this way we reached Rome. 

15 As the local brothers had heard 
about us, they came out to meet 
us as far as Appii Forum and Tres 
Tabernae, and when Paul saw them 
he thanked God and took courage. 

16 When we did reach Rome, Paul 
got permission * to live by himself, 

17 with a soldier to guard him. Three 
days later he called the leading 
Jews together, and when they met 
he said to them, " Brothers, al- 
though I have done nothing against 
the People or our ancestral customs, 

* Omitting [6 kKarSurapxos irapeSuKev robs 
Sffffilovs ry crparoveSdpxv} and [5e]. 



I was handed over to the Romans 
as a prisoner from Jerusalem. 
They meant to release me after 18 
examination, as I was innocent of 
any crime that deserved death. 
But the Jews objected, and so I 19 
was obliged to appeal to Caesar — 
not that I had any charge to bring 
against my own nation. This is 20 
my reason for asking to see you 
and have a word with you. I am 
wearing this chain because I share 
Israel's hope." They repUed, " We 21 
have had no letters about you 
from Judaea, and no brother has 
come here with any bad report or 
story about you. We think it 22 
only right to let you tell your own 
story; but as regards this sect, 
we are well aware that there are 
objections to it on all hands." So 23 
they fixed a day and came to him 
at his quarters in large numbers. 
From morning to evening he ex- 
plained the Reign of God to them 
from personal testimony, and tried 
to convince them about Jesus from 
the law of Moses and the prophets. 
Some were convinced by what he 24 
said, but the others would not be- 
lieve. As they could not agree 25 
among themselves they turned to 
go away, when Paul added this one 
word : "It was an apt word that 
the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet 
Isaiah to your fathers, when he 26 
said, 

Go and tell this people, 

' You will hear and hear but 

never understand, 
you will see and see hut never 

perceive.^ 
For the heart of this people is 27 

obtuse, 
their ears are heavy of hearing, 
their eyes they have closed, 
lest they see with their eyes and 

hear with their ears, 

185 



THE ACTS XXVIII 



lest they understand with their 
heart and turn again, and I 
cure them, 
28 Be sure of this, then, that this sal- 
vation of God has been sent to the 
Gentiles; they will listen to it." 



For two full years he remained in 
his private lodging, welcoming any- 
one who came to visit him; he 
preached the Reign of God and 
taught about the Lord Jesus Christ 
quite openly and unmolested. 



I 



30 
81 



ise 



THE EPISTLE OP PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THB 

EOMANS 



1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, set apart 

2 for the gospel of God (which he 
promised of old by his prophets 

3 in the holy scriptures) concerning 
his Son, who was born of David's 

4 offspring by natural descent and 
installed as Son of God with power 
by the Spirit of holiness when he 
was raised from the dead — con- 
cerning Jesus Christ our Lord, 

5 through whom I have received the 
favour of my commission to pro- 
mote obedience to the faith for 
his sake among all the Gentiles, 

6 including yourselves who are called 

7 to belong to Jesus Christ : to all 
in Rome who are beloved by God, 
called to be saints, grace and peace 
to you from God our Father and 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

8 First of all, I thank my God 
through Jesus Christ for you all, 
because the report of your faith 

9 is over all the world. God is my 
witness, the God whom I serve 
with my spirit in the gospel of his 

10 Son, how unceasingly I always 
mention you in my prayers, asking 
if I may at last be sped upon my 

11 way to you by God's will. For I 
do yearn to see you, that I may 
impart to you some spiritual gift 

12 for your strengthening — or, in other 
words, that I may be encouraged 
by meeting you, I by your faith 

13 and you by mine. Brothers, I 
would like you to understand that I 
have often purposed to come to you 
(though up till now I have been 



prevented) so as to have some re- 
sults among you as well as among 
the rest of the Gentiles. To Greeks 14 
and to barbarians, to wise and to 
foolish alike, I owe a duty. Hence 15 
my eagerness to preach the gospel 
to you in Rome as well. For I am 16 
proud of the gospel; it is God's 
saving power for everyone who has 
faith, for the Jew first and for the 
Greek as well. God's righteousness 17 
is revealed in it by faith and for 
faith — as it is written, Now by faith 
shall the righteous live. But God's 18 
anger is revealed from heaven 
against all the impiety and wicked- 
ness of those who hinder the Truth 
by their wickedness. For what- 19 
ever is to be kno^vn of God is 
plain to them; God himself has 
made it plain — for ever since the 20 
world was created, his invisible 
nature, his everlasting power and 
divine being, have been quite per- 
ceptible in what he has made. 
So they have no excuse. Though 21 
they knew God, they have not 
glorified him as God nor given 
thanks to him; they have turned 
to futile speculations till their 
ignorant minds grew dark. They 22 
claimed to be wise, but they have 
become fools ; they have exchanged 23 
the glory of the immortal God for 
the semblance of the likeness of 
mortal man, of birds, of quad- 
rupeds, and of reptiles. So God 24 
has given them up, in their heart's 
lust, to sexual vice, to the dis- 
honouring of their own bodies, — • 

187 



ROMANS II 



25 since they have exchanged the 
truth of God for an untruth, wor- 
shipping and serving the creature 
rather than the Creator who is 

26 blessed for ever : Amen. That is 
why God has given them up to 
vile passions; their women have 
exchanged the natural function of 

27 sex for what is unnatural, and in 
the same way the males have 
abandoned the natural use of 
women and flamed out in lust for 
one another, men perpetrating 
shameless acts with their own sex 
and getting in their own persons the 
due recompense of their perversity. 

28 Yes, as they disdained to acknow- 
ledge God any longer, God has given 
them up to a reprobate instinct for 
the perpetration of what is improper, 

29 till they are filled with all manner 
of wickedness, depravity, lust, 
and viciousness, filled to the brim 
with envy, murder, quarrels, in- 

80 trigues, and malignity — slanderers, 
defamers, loathed by God, out- 
rageous, haughty, boastful, inven- 
tive in evil, disobedient to parents, 
31 devoid of conscience, false to their 
82 word, callous, merciless ; though 
they know God's decree that people 
who practise such vice deserve 
death, they not only do it them- 
selves but applaud those who 
practise it. 

CHAP. 

2 Therefore you are inexcusable, 
whoever you are, if you pose as a 
judge, for in judging another you 
condemn yourself; you, the judge, 
do the very same things yourself. 

2 ' We know the doom of God falls 
justly upon those who practise such 

8 vices.' Very well ; and do you imag- 
ine you will escape God's doom, O 
man, you who judge those who 
practise such vices and do the same 
188 



yourself ? Or are you slighting all 4 
his wealth of kindness, forbearance, 
and patience? Do you not know 
his kindness is meant to make you 
repent ? In your stubbornness and 5 
impenitence of heart you are simply 
storing up anger for yourself on 
the Day of anger, when the just 
doom of God is revealed. For he 6 
will render to everyone according to 
what he has done, eternal life to 7 
those who by patiently doing good 
aim at glory, honour, and immor- 
tality, but anger and wrath to those 8 
who are wilful, who disobey the 
Truth and obey wickedness — an- 9 
guish and calamity for every human 
soul that perpetrates evil, for the 
Jew first and for the Greek as well, 
but glory, honour, and peace for 10 
everyone who does good, for the 
Jew first and for the Greek as well. 
There is no partiality about God. 11 
All who sin outside the Law will 12 

perish outside the Law, 
and all who sin under the Law 

will be condemned by the Law. 
For it is not the hearers of the Law 13 
who are just in the eyes of God, it 
is those who obey the Law who will 
be acquitted, on the day when 16 
God judges the secret things of 
men, as my gospel holds, by Jesus 
Christ. (When Gentiles who have 14 
no law obey instinctively the Law's 
requirements, they are a law to 
themselves, even though they have 
no law; they exhibit the effect of 15 
the Law written on their hearts, 
their conscience bears them wit- 
ness, as their moral convictions 
accuse or it maybe defend them.)* 

* Ver. 16 is the sequel to the first 
clause of ver. 14. The rest of ver. 14 and 
the whole of ver. 15 form a short para- 
graph which is either a marginal note or 
an awkward insertion. To preserve the 
sequence of thought I have re -arranged 
the verses as above. 



ROMANS III 



17 If you bear the name of 'Jew,' 
relying on the Law, priding your- 

18 self on God, understanding his 
will, and with a sense of what is 
vital in religion ; if you are in- 

19 structed by the Law and are per- 
suaded you are a guide to the 
Wind, a Hght to darkened souls, 

20 a tutor for the foolish, a teacher 
of the simple, because in the Law 
you have the embodiment of know- 

21 ledge and truth — well then, do 
you ever teach yourself, you teacher 
of other people? You preach 
against stealing; do you steal? 

22 You forbid adultery ; do you com- 
mit adultery? You detest idols; 

23 do you rob temples ? You pride 
yourself on the Law; do you dis- 
honour God by your breaches of the 

24 Law ? Why, it is owing to you that 
the name of God is maligned among 

25 the Gentiles, as scripture says ! Cir- 
cumcision is certainly of use, pro- 
vided you keep the Law; but if 
you are a breaker of the Law, then 
your circumcision is turned into 

26 uncircumcision. (If then the uncir- 
cumcised observe the requirements 
of the Law, will not their uncircum- 
cision be reckoned equivalent to 

27 circumcision ? And will not those 
who are physically uncircumcised 
and who fulfil the Law, judge you 
who are a breaker of the Law for 
all your written code and circum- 
cision ?) 

28 He is no Jew who is merely a Jew 

outwardly, 
nor is circumcision something 
outward in the flesh ; 

29 he is a Jew who is one inwardly, 

and circumcision is a matter 
of the heart, spiritual not 
literal — 

praised by God, not by man. 



Then what is the Jew's superi- 3 
ority? What is the good of cir- 
cumcision? Much in every way. 2 
This to begin with — Jews were en- 
trusted with the scriptures of God. 
Even supposing some of them have 3 
proved untrustworthy, is their 
faithlessness to cancel the faith- 
fulness of God ? Never ! Let God 4 
be true to his word, though every 
man be perfidious — as it is written, 
That thou mayest he vindicated in 

thy pleadings, 
and triumph in thy trial. 
But if our iniquity thus serves 5 
to bring out the justice of God, 
what are we to infer? That it is 
unfair of God to inflict his anger on 
us? (I speak in a merely human 
way.) Never ! In that case, how 6 
could he judge the world? You 7 
say, " If my perfidy serves to make 
the truthfulness of God redound 
to his glory, why am I to be judged 
as a sinner? Why should we not 8 
do evil that good may come out of 
it ? " (which is the calumny attri- 
buted to me — the very thing some 
people declare I say). Such argu- 
ments are rightly condemned. 

Well now, are we Jews in a better 9 
position? Not at all. I have 
already charged all, Jews as well as 
Greeks, with being under sin — as it 10 
is written, 

None is righteous, no, not one ; 
no one understands, no one 11 
seeks for God. 
All have swerved, one and all have 12 
gone wrong, 
no one does good, not a single one. 
Their throat is an open grave, 13 
they are treacherous with their 
tongues, 
the venom of an asp lies under 

their lips. 
Their mouth is full of cursing and 14 
bitterness. 

189 



ROMANS IV 



15 their feet are swift for bloodshed, 

16 their ways bring destruction and 

calamity, 

17 they know nothing of the way of 

"peace ; 

18 there is no reverence for God 

before their eyes. 

19 Whatever the Lavv^ says, we 
know, it says to those who are 
inside the Law, that every mouth 
may be shut and all the world 

20 made answerable to God ; for no 
person will be acquitted in his sight 
on the score of obedience to law. 
What the Law imparts is the con- 

21 sciousness of sin. But now we have 
a righteousness of God disclosed 
apart from law altogether; it is 
attested by the Law and the 

22 prophets, but it is a righteous- 
ness of God which comes by be- 
lieving in Jesus Christ. And it is 
meant for all who have faith. No 

23 distinctions are drawn. All have 
sinned, all come short of the glory 

24 of God, but they are justified for 
nothing by his grace through the 
ransom provided in Christ Jesus, 

25 whom God put forward as the 
means of propitiation by his blood, 
to be received by faith. This was 
to demonstrate the justice of God 
in view of the fact that sins pre- 
viously committed during the 
time of God's forbearance had 

26 been passed over; it was to 
demonstrate his justice at the 
present epoch, showing that God 
is just himself and that he justi- 
fies man on the score of faith in 
Jesus. 

27 Then what becomes of our boast- 
ing? It is ruled out absolutely. 
On what principle? On the prin- 
ciple of doing deeds? No, on the 

28 principle of faith. We hold a man 
is justified by faith apart from 

29 deeds of the Law altogether. Or 

190 



is God only the God of Jews? Is 

he not the God of the Gentiles as ;] 
well ? Surely he is. Well then, 30 j| 
there is one God, a God who will | 
justify the circumcised as they be- 
lieve and the uncircumcised on the 
score of faith. Then * by this 31 
faith ' we ' cancel the Law ' ? Not 
for one moment I We uphold the 
Law. 



CHAP. 

But if so, what can we say 4 
about Abraham,* our forefather 
by natural descent? This, that 2 
if ' Abraham was justified on the 
score of what he did,' he has some- 
thing to be proud of. But not to 
be proud of before God. For what 3 
does scripture say? Abraham be- 
lieved God and this was counted 
to him as righteousness. Now a 4 
worker has his wage counted to 
him as a due, not as a favour ; but 5 
a man who instead of ' working ' 
believes in Him who justifies the 
ungodly, has his faith counted as 
righteousness. Just as David him- 6 
self describes the bliss of the man 
who has righteousness counted to 
him by God apart from what he 
does — 

Blessed are they whose breaches of 7 
the Law are forgiven, 
whose sins are covered ! 

Blessed is the man whose sin the 8 
Lord will not count to him. 

Now is that description of bliss 9 
meant for the circumcised, or for 
the uncircumcised as well? Abra- 
ham's faith, I repeat, was counted 
to him as righteousness. In what 10 
way? When he was a circum- 
cised man or an uncircumcised 
man ? Not when he was circum- 
cised, but when he was uncircum- 

♦ Omitting, with B, 1908* acd Origen, 
evpriKfvai. 



ROMANS V 



11 cised. He only got circumcision 
as a sign or seal of the righteous- 
ness which belonged to his faith 
as an uncircumcised man. The 
reason of tliis was to make him the 
father of all who believe as un- 
circumcised persons and thus have 
righteousness counted to them, 

12 as well as a father of those circum- 
cised persons who not only share 
circumcision but walk in the steps 
of the faith which our father 
Abraham had as an uncircumcised 
man. 

13 The promise made to Abraham 
and his offspring that he should 
inherit the world, did not reach 
him through the Law, but through 

14 the righteousness of faith. For if 
it is adherents of the Law who are 
heirs, then faith is empty of all 
meaning and the promise is void. 

15 (What the Law produces is the 
Wrath, not the promise of God; 
where there is no law, there is no 

16 transgression either.) That is why 
all turns upon faith ; it is to make 
the promise a matter of favour, to 
make it secure for all the offspring, 
not simply for those who are ad- 
herents of the Law but also for 
those who share the faith of Abra- 
ham — of Abraham who is the 

17 father of us all (as it is written, 
/ have made you a father of many 
nations). Such a faith implies the 

Eresence of the God in whom he 
elieved, a God who makes the 
dead live and calls into being what 

18 does not exist. For Abraham, 
when hope was gone, hoped on in 
faith, and thus became the father 
of many nations — even as he was 
told. So numberless shall your off- 

19 spring be. His faith never quailed 
even when he noted the utter im- 
potence of his own body (for he 
was about a hundred years old) 



or the impotence of Sara's womb ; 
no unbelief made him waver about 20 
God's promise; his faith won 
strength as he gave glory to God 
and felt convinced that He was 21 
able to do what He had promised. 
Hence his faith was counted to him 22 
as righteousness. And these words 23 
counted to him have not been written 
for him alone but for our sakes as 24 
well; faith will be counted to us 
as we believe in Him who raised 
Jesus our Lord from the dead, 
Jesus who was delivered up for our 25 
trespasses and raised that we might 
be justified. 



As we are justified by faith, 5 
then, let us enjoy the peace we 
have with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Through him we 2 
have got access * to this grace 
where we have our standing, and 
triumph in the hope of God's 
glory. Not only so, but we 8 
triumph even in our troubles, 
knowing that trouble produces 
endurance, endurance produces 4 
character, and character produces 
hope — a hope which never dis- 5 
appoints us, since God's love floods 
our hearts through the holy Spirit 
which has been given to us. For 6 
when we were still in weakness, 
Christ died in due time for the 
ungodly. For the ungodly I Why, 7 
a man will hardly die for the just, 
though one might bring oneself to 
die, if need be, for a good man. 
But God proves his love for us in 8 
this, that Christ died for us when 
we were still sinners. Much more 9 
then, now that we are justified by 
his blood, shall we be saved by 
him from Wrath. If we were 10 

* Omitting tt? vicrrei with B D G, the 
Old Latin, and Origen. 

191 



ROMANS VI 



reconciled to God by the death of 
his Son when we were enemies, 
much more, now that we are recon- 
ciled, shall we be saved by his life. 

11 Not only so, but we triumph in 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom we now enjoy our recon- 
ciliation. 

12 Thus, then, sin came into the 
world by one man, and death came 
in by sin; and so death spread 
to all men, inasmuch as all men 

13 sinned. Sin was indeed in the 
world before the Law, but sin is 
never counted in the absence of 

14 law. Nevertheless, from Adam to 
Moses death reigned even over 
those whose sins were not like 
Adam's transgression. Adam pre- 

15 figured Him who was to come, but 
the gift is very different from the 
trespass. For while the rest of men 
died by the trespass of one man, 
the grace of God and the free gift 
which comes by the grace of the 
one man Jesus Christ overflowed 
far more richly upon the rest of men. 

16 Nor is the free gift like the effect 
of the one man's sin; for while 
the sentence ensuing on a single 
sin resulted in doom, the free gift 
ensuing on many trespasses issues 

17 in acquittal. For if the trespass of 
one man allowed death to reign 
through that one man, much more 
shall those who receive the over- 
flowing grace and free gift of right- 
eousness reign in life through One, 

18 through Jesus Christ. Well then, 

as one man's trespass issued in 
doom for all, 
so one man's act of redress 
issues in acquittal and life 
for all. 

19 Just as one man's disobedience 

made all the rest sinners, 
so one man's obedience will 
make all the rest righteous. 
192 ^ 



Law slipped in to aggravate the 20 
trespass; sin increased, but grace 
surpassed it far, so that while sin 21 
had reigned the reign of death, 
grace might also reign with a 
righteousness that ends in life 
eternal through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 



Now what are we to infer from 
this ? That we are to ' remain 
on in sin, so that there may be 
all the more grace ' ? Never ! 
How can we live in sin any longer 
when we died to sin ? Surely you 
know that all of us who have been 
baptized into Christ Jesus have 
been baptized into his death ! 
Our baptism into his death made 4 
us share his burial, so that, as Christ 
was raised from the dead by the 
glory of the Father, we too might 
live and move in the new sphere 
of Life. For if we have grown 5 
into him by a death like his, we 
shall grow into him by a resurrec- 
tion like his, knowing as we do 6 
that our old self has been crucified 
with him in order to crush the sinful 
body and free us from any further 
slavery to sin (for once dead, a man 7 
is absolved from the claims of sin). 
We believe that as we have died 8 
with Christ we shall also live with 
him; for we know that Christ 9 
never dies after his resurrection 
from the dead — death has no more 
hold over him; the death he died 10 
was for sin, once for all, but the 
life he lives is for God. So you 11 
must consider yourselves dead to 
sin and alive to God in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. Sin is not to 12 
reign, then, over your mortal 
bodies and make you obey their 
passions; you must not let sin 13 
have your members for the service 



ROMANS VII 



OHAP. 



of vice, you must dedicate your- 
selves to God as men who have 
been brought from death to hfe, 
dedicating your members to God 
for the service of righteousness. 

14 Sin must have no hold over you, 
for you live under grace, not under 
law. 

15 What follows, then ? Are we ' to 
sin, because we live under grace, 

16 not under law ' ? Never ! Do 
you not know you are the servants 
of the master you obey, of the 
master to whom you yield your- 
selves obedient, whether it is Sin, 
whose service ends in death, or 
Obedience, whose service ends in 

17 righteousness ? Thank God, though 
you did serve sin, you have 
rendered w^hole-hearted obedience 
to what you were taught under 

18 the rule of faith ; set free from sin, 
you have passed into the service of 

19 righteousness. (I use this human 
analogy to bring the truth home 
to your weak nature.) As you 
once dedicated your members to 
the service of vice and lawless- 
ness,* so now dedicate them to the 
service of righteousness that means 

20 consecration. When you served 
sin, you were free of righteousness. 

21 Well, what did you gain then by 
it all? Nothing but what you 
are now ashamed of ! The end of 

22 all that is death ; but now that 
you are set free from sin, now that 
you have passed into the service 
of God, your gain is consecration, 
and the end of that is life eternal. 

23 Sin's wage is death, but God's gift 
is life eternal in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. 

• Omitting els tV avofiiav^ which Hort 
brackets, as a gloss introduced to complete 
the parallel of els ayia(Tij.6v» 



Surely you know, my brothers 7 
— for I am speaking to men who 
know what law means — that the 
law has hold over a person only 
during his lifetime I Thus a 2 
married woman is bound by law 
to her husband while he is alive; 
but if the husband dies, she is done 
with the law of * the husband.' 
Accordingly, she will be called an 3 
adulteress if she becomes another 
man's while her husband is alive; 
but if her husband dies, she is freed 
from the law of ' the husband,' so 
that she is no adulteress if she 
becomes another man's. It is the 4 
same in your case, my brothers. 
The crucified body of Christ made 
you dead to the Law, so that you 
might belong to another, to him 
who was raised from the dead that 
we might be fruitful to God. For 5 
when we were unspiritual, the sinful 
cravings excited by the Law were 
active in our members and made 
us fruitful to Death; but now we 6 
are done with the Law, we have 
died to what once held us, so that 
we can serve in a new way, not 
under the written code as of old 
but in the Spirit. 

What follows, then ? That * the 7 
Law is equivalent to sin ' ? Never ! 
Why, had it not been for the Law, 
I would never have known what 
sin meant ! Thus I would never 
have known what it is to covet, 
unless the Law had said, You must 
not covet. The command gave an 8 
impulse to sin, and sin resulted for 
me in all manner of covetous desire 
— for sin, apart from law, is lifeless. 
I lived at one time without law 9 
myself, but when the command 
came home to me, sin sprang to 
life and I died; the command 10 
that meant life proved death for 
me. The command gave an im- 11 

in 



ROMANS VIII 



pulse to sin, sin beguiled me and 
used the command to kill me. 

12 So the Law at any rate is holy, 
the command is holy, just, and for 

13 our good. Then did what was 
meant for my good prove fatal to 
me ? Never ! It was sin ; sin 
resulted in death for me by mak- 
ing use of this good thing. This 
was how sin was to be revealed 
in its true nature; it was to use 
the command to become sinful 

14 in the extreme. The Law is 
spiritual; we know that. But 
then I am a creature of the flesh, 

15 in the thraldom of sin. I cannot 
understand my own actions; I do 
not act as I want to act; on the 

16 contrary, I do what I detest. Now, 
when I act against my wishes, that 
means I agree that the Law is 

17 right. That being so, it is not I 
who do the deed but sin that 

18 dwells within me. For in me 
(that is, in my flesh) no good dwells, 
I know ; the wish is there, but not 
the power of doing what is right. 

19 I cannot be good as I want to be, 
and I do wrong against my wishes. 

20 Well, if I act against my wishes, 
it is not I who do the deed but 

21 sin that dwells within me. So this 
is my experience of the Law : I 
want to do what is right, but wrong 

22 is all I can manage ; I cordially 
agree with God's law, so far as my 

28 inner self is concerned, but then I 
find quite another law in my 
members which conflicts with the 
law of my mind and makes me a 
prisoner to sin's law that resides 

25 in my members. (Thus, left to 
myself, I serve the law of God 
with my mind, but with my flesh I 

24 serve the law of sin.) * Miserable 

♦ Restoring the second part of ver. 25 
feo what seems its original and logical 
position before the olimas: of ver. 24. 

m 



wretch that I am ! Who will 

rescue me from this body of 
death? God will! Thanks be 25 
to him through Jesus Christ our 
Lord I 



0B4P. 

Thus there is no doom now for 8 
those who are in Christ Jesus ; the 2 
law of the Spirit brings the life 
which is in Christ Jesus, and that 
law has set me free from the law of 
sin and death. For God has done 3 
what the Law, weakened here by 
the flesh, could not do ; by sending 
his own Son in the guise of sinful 
flesh, to deal with sin, he con- 
demned sin in the flesh, in order 4 
to secure the fulfilment of the Law's 
requirements in our lives, as we 
live and move not by the flesh but 
by the Spirit. 

For those who follow the flesh 

have their interests in the 

flesh, 
and those who follow the 

Spirit have their interests in 

the Spirit. 
The interests of the flesh mean 6 

death, 
the interests of the Spirit mean 

life and peace. 
For the interests of the flesh are 7 
hostile to God; they do not yield 
to the law of God (indeed they 
cannot). Those who are in the 8 
flesh cannot satisfy God. But you 9 
are not in the flesh, you are in the 
Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells 
within you. Anyone who does not 
possess the Spirit of Christ does not 
belong to Him. On the other hand, 10 
if Christ is within you, though the 
body is a dead thing owing to Adam's 
sin, the spirit is living as the result 
of righteousness. And if the Spirit 11 
of Etim who raised Jesus from the 
dead dwells within you, then He 






i 



ROMANS VIII 



who raised Christ Jesus from the 
dead will also make your mortal 
bodies live by his indwelling Spirit 
in your lives. 

12 Well then, my brothers, we owe 
a duty — but it is not to the flesh ! 
It is not to live by the flesh ! If 
you live by the flesh, you are on the 

13 road to death, but if by the Spirit 
you put the actions of the body 

14 to death you will live. For the 
sons of God are those who are 

15 guided by the Spirit of God. You 
have received no slavish spirit that 
would make you relapse into fear ; 
you have received the Spirit of son- 
ship. And when we cry, " Abba ! 

16 Father ! ", it is this Spirit testi- 
fying along with our own spirit 

17 that we are children of God ; and 
if children, heirs as well, heirs of 
God, heirs along with Christ — for 
we share his sufierings in order to 
share his glory. 

18 Present suffering, I hold, is a 
mere nothing compared to the 
glory that we are to have revealed. 

19 Even the creation waits with eager 
longing for the sons of God 

20 to be revealed. For creation was 
not rendered futile by its own 
choice, but by the will of Him 
who thus made it subject, the 

21 hope being that creation as well 
as man would one day be freed 
from its thraldom to decay and gain 
the glorious freedom of the children 

22 of God. To this day, we know, 
the entire creation sighs and throbs 

23 with pain ; and not only so, but 
even we ourselves, who have the 
Spirit as a foretaste of the future, 
even we sigh to ourselves as we 
wait for the redemption of the 
body that means our full sonship. 

24 We were saved with this hope in 
view. Now when an object of hope 
is seen, there is no further need to 



hope. Who ever hopes for what he 
sees already ? But if we hope for 25 
something that we do not see, we 
wait for it patiently. 

So too the Spirit assists us in 26 
our weakness; for we do not 
know how to pray aright, but the 
Spirit pleads for us with sighs that 
are beyond words, and He who 27 
searches the human heart knows 
what is in the mind of the Spirit, 
since the Spirit pleads before God 
for the saints. 

We know also that those who 28 
love God, those who have been 
called in terms of his purpose, 
have his aid and interest in every- 
thing. For he decreed of old that 29 
those whom he predestined should 
share the likeness of his Son — ^that 
he might be the firstborn of a great 
brotherhood. Then he calls those 30 
whom he has thus decreed; then 
he justifies those whom he has 
called; then he glorifies those 
whom he has justified. 

Now what follows from all this ? 31 
If God is for us, who can be against 
us ? The God who did not spare 32 
his own Son but gave him up for 
us all, surely He will give us every- 
thing besides ! Who will accuse 33 
the elect of God? When God 
acquits, who will condemn ? Will 34 
Christ? — ^the Christ who died, yes 
and rose from the dead ! the Christ 
who is at God's right hand, who 
actually pleads for us ! What can 35 
ever part us from Christ's love? 
Can anguish or calamity or persecu- 
tion or famine or nakedness or 
danger or the sword ? {Because, as 36 
it is written. 

For thy sake we are being hilled all 
the day long, 

we are counted as sheep to be 
slaughtered.) 
No, in all this we are more than 37 

105 



ROMANS IX 



conquerors through him who loved 

38 us. For I am certain neither 
death nor life, neither angels nor 
principalities, neither the present 

39 nor the future, no powers of the 
Height or of the Depth, nor anything 
else in all creation will be able to 
part us from God's love in Christ 
Jesus 6uT Lord. 



9 I AM telling the truth in Christ — 
it is no lie, my conscience bears 

2 me out in the holy Spirit when I 
say that I am in sore pain. I suffer 

8 endless anguish of heart. I could 
have wished myself accursed and 
banished from Christ for the sake 
of my brothers, my natural kins- 

4 men ; for they are Israelites, theirs 
is the Sonship, the Glory, the 
covenants, the divine legislation, 
the Worship, and the promises; 

5 the patriarchs are theirs, and theirs 
too (so far as natural descent goes) 
is the Christ. (Blessed for ever- 
more be the God who is over all ! 
Amen.) 

6 It is not, of course, as if God's 
word had failed ! Far from it ! 
' Israel ' does not mean everyone 
who belongs to Israel; they are 

7 not all children of Abraham be- 
cause they are descended from 
Abraham. No, it is through Isaac 
that your offspring shall be reckoned 

8 — meaning that instead of God's 
children being the children born to 
him by natural descent, it is the 
children of the Promise who are 
reckoned as his true offspring. 

9 For when God said, I shall come 
about this time and Sara will have 
a son, that was a word of promise. 

10 And further, when Rebecca be- 
came pregnant by our father Isaac, 
though one man was the father of 

11 both children, and though the 

196 



children were still unborn and 
had done nothing either good or 
bad (to confirm the divine purpose 
in election which depends upon the 
call of God, not on anything man 
does), she was told that the elder 12 
will serve the younger. As it is 13 
written, Jacob I loved hut Esau I 
hated. 

Then are we to infer that there 14 
is injustice in God ? Never I God 
says to Moses, 

/ will have mercy on whom 1 15 
choose to have mercy, 

I will have compassion on whom 
I choose to have compassion. 
You see, it is not a question of 16 
human will or effort but of the 
divine mercy. Why, scripture says 17 
to Pharaoh, 

It was for this that I raised you 
up, 
to display my power in you, 
and to spread news of my name 
over all the earth. 

Thus God has mercy on anyone 18 
just as he pleases, 
and he makes anyone stubborn 
just as he pleases. 

" Then, " you will retort, " why 19 
does He go on finding fault ? Who 
can oppose his will ? " But who 20 
are you, my man, to speak back to 
God? Is something a man has 
moulded to ask him who has moulded 
it, " Why did you make me hke 
this ? " What ! has the potter no 21 
right over the clay ? Has he no 
right to make out of the same 
lump one vessel for a noble purpose 
and another for a menial ? What 22 
if God, though desirous to display 
his anger and show his might, has 
tolerated most patiently the objects 
of his anger, ripe and ready to be 
destroyed ? What if he means 23 
to show the wealth that lies in his 
glory for the objects of his mercy, 



ROMANS X 



whom he has made ready before- 

24 hand to receive glory — that is, 
for us whom he has called from 
among the Gentiles as well as 

25 the Jews ? As indeed he says in 
Hosea, 

Those who were no people of mine, 
I will call * my People/ 
and her ' beloved ' who was not 
beloved ; 

26 on the very spot where they were 

toldy ' You are no people of 
mine,'' 
there shall they be called ^ sons 
of the living God J* 

27 And Isaiah exclaims, with regard 
to Israel, Though the number of the 
sons of Israel be like the sand of the 
sea, only a remnant of them will be 

28 saved ; for the Lord will carry out 
his sentence on earth with rigour 

29 and despatch. Indeed, as Isaiah 
foretold. 

Had not the Lord of hosts left us 

with some descendants, 

we would have fared like Sodom, 

we would have been like Gomorra. 

80 What are we to conclude, then ? 

That Gentiles who never aimed 

at righteousness have attained 

righteousness, that is, righteous- 

31 ness by faith; whereas Israel who 
did aim at the law of righteousness 

32 have failed to reach that law. And 
why? Simply because Israel has 
relied not on faith but on what they 
could do. They have stumbled 
over the stone that makes men stumble 

33 — as it is written. 

Here I lay a stone in Sion that 
will make men stumble, 
even a rock to trip them up ; 

hut he who believes in Him will 
never be disappointed, 

OHAP. 

10 Oh for their salvation, brothers I 
That is my heart's desire and 



prayer to God 1 1 can vouch for 2 
their zeal for God; only, it is not 
zeal with knowledge. They would 8 
not surrender to the righteousness 
of God, because they were ignorant 
of his righteousness and therefore 
essayed to set up a righteousness of 
their own. Now Christ is an end to 4 
law, so as to let every beUever have 
righteousness. Moses writes of 5 
law-righteousness. Anyone who can 
perform it will live by it. But here 6 
is what faith-righteousness says : — 
Say not in your heart, * Who will go 
up to heaven ? ' (that is, to bring 
Christ down). Or, * who will go 7 
down to the abyss ? ' (that is, to bring 
Christ from the dead). No, what 8 
it does say is this : — The word is 
close to you, in your very mouth and 
in your heart (that is, the word of 
faith which we preach). Confess 9 
with your mouth that ' Jesus is 
Lord,' believe in your heart that 
God raised him from the dead, and 
you will be saved ; for 10 

with his heart man believes and 
is justified, 

with his mouth he confesses and 
is saved. 
No one who believes in him, the 11 
scripture says, will ever be dis- 
appointed. No one — for there is 12 
no distinction of Jew and Greek, 
the same Lord is Lord of them all, 
with ample for all who invoke him. 
Everyone who invokes the name of IS 
the Lord will be saved. But how 14 
are they to invoke One in whom 
they do not beheve? And how 
are they to believe in One of whom 
they have never heard ? And how 
are they ever to hear, without 
a preacher? And how can men 15 
preach unless they are sent? — 
as it is written, How pleasant is 
the coming of men with glad, good 
news! 

197 



ROMANS XI 



16 But they have not all given in 
to the gospel of glad news? No, 
Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed 

17 what they heard from us ? (You see, 
faith must come from what is heard, 
and what is heard comes from word 

18 of Christ.) But, I ask, " Have 
they never heard ? " Indeed they 
have. 

Their voice carried over all the 

earthy 
and their words to the end of the 

world, 

19 Then, I ask, " Did Israel not under- 
stand?" Why, first of all Moses 
declares, 

/ will make you jealous of a 
nation that is no nation, 

I will 'provoke you to anger over a 
nation devoid of understanding, 

20 And then Isaiah dares to say, 

I have been found by those who 

never sought me, 
I have shown myself to those who 

never inquired of me, 

21 He also says of Israel, All the day 
long I have held out my hands to a 
disobedient and contrary people, 

11 Then, I ask, has God repudiated 
his People ? Never ! Why, I am 
an Israelite myself, a descendant of 
Abraham, a member of the tribe of 

2 Benjamin ! God has not repudiated 

' his People, his predestined People I 
Surely you know what scripture 
says in the passage called ' Elijah ' ? 
You know how he pleads with God 

8 against Israel : Lord, they have 
killed thy prophets, they have de- 
molished thine altars ; I alone am 

4 left, and they seek my life. Yet 
what is the divine answer? / 
have left myself seven thousand men 

6 who have not knelt to Baal, Well, 
at the present day there is also 
a remnant, selected by grace. 

6 Selected by grace, and therefore 
not for anything they have done; 
Ids 



otherwise grace would cease to be 
grace.* 

Now what are we to infer from 7 
this? That Israel has failed to 
secure the object of its quest; the 
elect have secured it, and the rest 
of men have been rendered insen- 
sible to it — as it is written, 8 
God has given them a spirit of 
torpor, 
eyes that see not, ears that hear 
not — 
down to this very day. And David 9 
says. 

Let their table prove a snare and 
a trap, 
a pitfall and a retribution for 
them ; 
let their eyes be darkened, that 10 
they cannot see, 
bow down their backs for ever. 
Now I ask, have they stumbled 11 
to their ruin ? Never 1 The truth 
is, that by their lapse salvation has 
passed to the Gentiles, so as to 
make them jealous. Well, if their 12 
lapse has enriched the world, if 
their defection is the gain of the 
Gentiles, what will it mean when 
they all come in? I tell you this, 13 
you Gentiles, that as an apostle to 
the Gentiles I lay great stress on 
my office, in the hope of being 14 
able to make my fellow- Jews jealous 
and of managing thus to save some 
of them. For if their exclusion 15 
means that the world is reconciled 
to God, what will their admission 
mean? Why, it will be life from 
the dead ! 

If the first handful of dough is 16 
consecrated, so is the rest of 
the lump ; 
if the root is consecrated, so are 
the branches. 

• Omitting [e/ Se l| ipyvv, ovk4ti iffrlv 
X<^P'^s, ivel rh epyov ovk4ti icrrlv $pyovJ 'With 
the Latin version and most MSS. 



ROMANS XII 



17 Supposing some of the branches 
have been broken off, while you 
have been grafted in like a shoot 
of wild olive to share the rich 

18 growth of the olive-stem, do not 
pride yourself at the expense of 
these branches. Remember, in 
your pride, the stem supports you, 

19 not you the stem. You will say, 
" But branches were broken off to 

20 let me be grafted in ! " Granted. 
They were broken off — for their 
lack of faith. And you owe your 
position to your faith. You should 
feel awed instead of being uplifted. 

21 For if God did not spare the natural 
branches, he will not spare you 

22 either. Consider both the kind- 
ness and the severity of God ; those 
who fall come under his severity, 
but you come under the divine kind- 
ness, provided you adhere to that 
kindness. Otherwise, you will be 

23 cut away too. And even the others 
will be grafted in, if they do not 
adhere to their unbelief; God can 

24 graft them in again. For if you 
have been cut from an olive which 
is naturally wild, and grafted, con- 
trary to nature, upon a garden 
olive, how much more will the 
natural branches be grafted into 
their proper olive? 

25 To prevent you from being self- 
conceited, brothers, I would like 
you to understand this secret: it 
is only a partial insensibility that 
has come over Israel, until the full 
number of the Gentiles come in. 

26 This done, all Israel will be saved — 
as it is written. 

The deliverer will come from Sion, 
he will banish all godlessness 
from Jacob : 

27 this is my covenant with them, 

when I take their sins away, 

28 So far as the gospel goes, they are 
enemies of God — wliich is to your 



advantage; but so far as election 
goes, they are beloved for their 
fathers' sake. For God never goes 29 
back upon his gifts and call. 

Once you disobeyed God, 80 

and now you enjoy his mercy 
thanks to their disobedience ; 
in the same way they at present 
are disobedient, 
so that they in turn may enjoy 31 
the same mercy as your- 
selves. 
For God has consigned all men 32 
to disobedience, 
that he may have mercy upon 
all. 
What a fathomless wealth lies 33 
in the wisdom and knowledge of 
God ! How inscrutable his judg- 
ments ! How mysterious his 
methods ! 

Whoever understood the thoughts of 34- 
the Lord ? 
Who has ever been his coun- 
sellor ? 
Who has first given to him and has 35 
to be repaid ? All comes from him, 36 
all lives by him, all ends in him. 
Glory to him for ever, Amen 1 

OHAP. 

Well then, my brothers, I appeal 12 
to you by all the mercy of God to 
dedicate your bodies as a living 
sacrifice, consecrated and accept- 
able to God; that is your cult, a 
spiritual rite. Instead of being 2 
moulded to this world, have your 
mind renewed, and so be trans- 
formed in nature, able to make out 
what the will of God is, namely, 
what is good and acceptable to 
him and perfect. 

In virtue of my office, I tell every- 3 
one of your number who is self- 
important,* that he is not to think 

* I accept the ingenious conjecture 
that rt has fallen out after ovti. 

199 



ROMANS XIII 



more of himself than he ought to 
think; he must take a sane view 
of himself, corresponding to the 
degree of faith which God has 

4 assigned to each. In our one body 
we have a number of members, 
and the members have not all the 

5 same function ; so too, for all 
our numbers, we form one Body 
in Christ and we are severally 

6 members one of another. Our 
talents differ with the grace that 
is given us ; if the talent is that 
of prophecy, let us employ it in 

7 proportion to our faith; if it is 
practical service, let us mind our 
service ; the teacher must mind his 

8 teaching, the speaker his words of 
counsel; the contributor must be 
liberal, the superintendent must 
be in earnest, the sick visitor must 

9 be cheerful. Let your love be a 
real thing, with a loathing for evil 
and a bent for what is good. 

10 Put affection into your love for the 
brotherhood ; be forward to honour 

11 one another; never let your zeal 
flag; maintain the spiritual glow; 

12 serve the Lord ; let your hope be 
a joy to you; be stedfast in trouble, 

13 attend to prayer, contribute to 
needy saints, make a practice of 

14 hospitahty. Bless those who make 
a practice of persecuting you ; bless 
them instead of cursing them. 

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, 
and weep with those who weep. 

16 Keep in harmony with one another ; 
instead of being ambitious, associ- 
ate with humble folk ; never be self- 

17 conceited. Never pay back evil for 
evil to anyone ; aim to be above re- 

18 proach in the eyes of all ; be at peace 
with all men, if possible, so far as 

19 that depends on you. Never re- 
venge yourselves, beloved, but let 
the Wrath of God have its way ; for 
it is written, Vengeance is mine, I 

200 



^will exact a requital — the Lord has 
said it. No, 

if your enemy is hungry^ feed him, 20 

if he is thirsty, give him drink ; 
for in this way you will make Mm 
feel a burning sense of shame. 
Do not let evil get the better of 21 
you ; get the better of evil by doing 
good. 

CHAP. 

Every subject must obey the 13 ! 
government-authorities, for no 
authority exists apart from God; 
the existing authorities have been 
constituted by God. Hence anyone 2 || 
who resists authority is opposing 
the divine order, and the opposition 
will bring judgment on themselves. 
Magistrates are no terror to an 3 
honest man,* though they are to 
a bad man. If you want to avoid 
being alarmed at the government- 
authorities, lead an honest life and 
you will be commended for it ; the 4 
magistrate is God's servant for your 
benefit. But if you do wrong, 
you may well be alarmed ; a magis- 
trate does not wield the power of 
the sword for nothing, he is God's 
servant for the infliction of divine 
vengeance upon evil-doers. You 5 
must be obedient, therefore, not 
only to avoid the divine vengeance 
but as a matter of conscience, for 6 
the same reason as you pay taxes — 
since magistrates are God's officers, 
bent upon the maintenance of 
order and authority. Pay them all 7 
their respective dues, tribute to one, 
taxes to another, respect to this 
man, honour to that. Be in debt 8 
to no man — apart from the debt 

* Reading aya6oepy^, Patrick Young's 
attractive conjecture (confirmed by the 
Ethiopic version). As Hort points out, 
*' the apparent antithesis to ry kok^; could 
hardly fail to introduce r^ 07^0^.** 



ROMANS XIV 



of love one to another. He who 
loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the 
9 law. You must not commit adultery ^ 
you must not kill, you must not steal, 
you must not covet — these and any 
other command are summed up 
in the single word, You must love 

10 your neighbour as yourself. Love 
never wrongs a neighbour; that is 
why love is the fulfilment of the 
law. 

11 And then you know what this 
Crisis means, you know it is high 
time to waken up; for Salvation 
is nearer to us now than when we 

12 first believed. It is far on in the 
night, the day is almost here ; so let 
us drop the deeds of darkness and 
put on the armour of the light; 

13 let us live decorously as in the open 
light of day — no revelry or bouts 
of drinking, no debauchery or 
sensuality, no quarreling or jeal- 

14 ousy. No, put on the character 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and never 
think how to gratify the cravings 
of the flesh. 

CHAP. 

14 Welcome a man of weak faith, 
but not for the purpose of passing 

2 judgment on his scruples. While 
one man has enough confidence to 
eat any food, the man of weak faith 

3 only eats vegetables. The eater 
must not look down upon the non- 
eater, and the non-eater must not 
criticize the eater, for God has 

4 welcomed him. Who are you to 
criticize the servant of Another? 
It is for his Master to say whether 
he stands or falls; and stand he 
will, for the Master has power to 

5 make him stand. Then again, 
this man rates one day above 
another, while that man rates all 
days alike. Well, everyone must 
be convinced in his own mind; 



the man who values a particular 6 
day does so to the Lord.* 
The eater eats to the Lord, 
since he thanks God for his 
food; 
the non-eater abstains to the 
Lord, 
and he too thanks God. 
For none of us lives to himself, 7 
and none of us dies to him- 
self; 
if we live, we live to the Lord, 8 
and if we die, we die to the 
Lord. 
Thus we are the Lord's whether 
we live or die ; it was for this that 9 
Christ died and rose and came to 
life, to be Lord both of the dead 
and of the living. So why do you 10 
criticize your brother ? And you, 
why do you look down upon your 
brother? All of us have to stand 
before the tribunal of God — for it 11 
is written. 

As I live, saith the Lord, every 

knee shall bend before me, 
every tongue shall offer praise to 
God, 
Each of us then will have to answer 12 
for himself to God. 

So let us stop criticizing one 13 
another; rather make up your 
mind never to put any stumbling- 
block or hindrance in your brother's 
way. I know, I am certain in the 14 
Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself 
unclean ; only, anything is unclean 
for a man who considers it unclean. 
If your brother is being injured be- 15 
cause you eat a certain food, then 
you are no longer living by the rule of 
love. Do not let that food of yours 
ruin the man for whom Christ died. 
Your rights must not get a bad 16 
name. The Reign of God is not a 17 

* Omitting [koX 6 fi^ ippovwv r^y rinepav 
Kvplcp ov <ppop€7] with the Latin version and 
most manuscripts. 

201 



ROMANS XV 



matter of eating and drinking, it 
means righteousness, joy, and peace 

18 in the holy Spirit ; he who serves 
Christ on these lines, is acceptable 
to God and esteemed by men, 

19 Peace, then, and the building up 
of each other, these are what we 

20 must aim at. You must not break 
down God's work for the mere sake 
of food ! Everything may be clean, 
but it is wrong for a man to prove a 
stumbling-block by what he eats; 

21 the right course is to abstain from 
flesh or wine or indeed anything that 
your brother feels to be a stumbling- 

22 block.* Certainly keep your own 
conviction on the matter, as be- 
tween yourself and God; he is a 
fortunate man who has no mis- 
givings about what he allows him- 

23 self to eat. But if anyone has 
doubts about eating and then eats, 
that condemns him at once; it 
was not faith that induced him to 
eat, and any action that is not based 
on faith is a sin. 

15 We who are strong ought to bear 
the burdens that the weak make 
for themselves and us. We are not 

2 to please ourselves. Each of us 
must please his neighbour, doing 
him good by building up his faith. 

3 Christ certainly did not please him- 
self, but, as it is written. The re- 
proaches of those who denounced Thee 

4 have fallen upon me, — All such words 
were written of old for our instruc- 
tion, that by remaining stedfast 
and drawing encouragement from 
the scriptures we may cherish hope. 

5 May the God who inspires stedfast- 
ness and encouragement grant you 
such harmony with one another, 

6 after Christ Jesus, that you may 
unite in a chorus of praise and 

♦ Omitting [^ <r/cov5o\/f€Tat ^ aadevel] 
with N* A C, Origen, the Peshitto, etc., 
as a homiletio gloss. 
20a 



glory to the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ ! Welcome one 7 
another, then, as Christ has wel- 
comed yourselves, for the glory of 
God. Christ, I mean, became a ser- 8 
vant to the circumcised in order to 
prove God's honesty by fulfilling His 
promises to the fathers, and also 9 
in order that the Gentiles should 
glorify God for His mercy — ^as it is 
written. 

Therefore will I offer praise to Thee 
among the Gentiles, 

and sing to thy name ; 
or again, 10 

Rejoice, Gentiles, with his People; 
or again, 11 

Extol the Lord, all Gentiles, 

let all the peoples praise him ; 
or again, as Isaiah says, 12 

Then shall the Scion of Jessai live, 

he who rises to rule the Gentiles ; 

on him will the Gentiles set their 
hope. 
May the God of your hope so fill 13 
you with all joy and peace in your 
faith, that you may be overflowing 
with hope by the power of the holy 
Spirit ! 

Personally I am quite certain, 14 
my brothers, that even as it is you 
have ample goodness of heart, you 
are filled with knowledge of every 
kind, and you are well able to give 
advice to one another. Still, by 15 
way of refreshing your memory, I 
have written you with a certain 
freedom, in virtue of my divine 
commission as a priest of Christ 16 
Jesus to the Gentiles in the service 
of God's gospel. My aim is to make 
the Gentiles an acceptable offering, 
consecrated by the holy Spirit. 
Now in Christ Jesus I can be proud 17 
of my work for God. I will not 18 
make free to speak of anything ex- 
cept what Christ has accomplished by 



i 



ROMANS XVI 



me in the way of securing the obedi- 
ence of the Gentiles, by my words 

19 and by my deeds, by the force of 
miracles and marvels, by the power 
of the Spirit of God. Thus from 
Jerusalem right round to Illyricum, 
I have been able to complete the 
preaching of the gospel of Christ — 

20 my ambition always being to preach 
it only in places where there had 
been no mention of Christ's name, 
that I might not build on founda- 

21 tions laid by others, but that (as 
it is written) 

They should see who never had 

learned about him, 
and they who had never heard of 

him should understand, 

22 This is why I have been so often 

23 prevented from visiting you. But 
now, as I have no further scope for 
work in these parts, and as for a 
number of years I have had a long- 

24 ing to visit you whenever I went to 
Spain, I am hoping to see you on 
my way there, and to be sped 
forward by you after I have en- 

25 joyed your company for a while. 
At the moment I am off to Jeru- 

26 salem on an errand to the saints. 
For Macedonia and Achaia have 
decided to make a contribution 
for the poor among the saints at 

27 Jerusalem. Such was their de- 
cision ; and yet this is a debt they 
owe to these people, for if the Gen- 
tiles have shared their spiritual 
blessings, they owe them a debt of 

28 aid in material blessings. Well, 
once I finish this business by putting 
the proceeds of the collection safely 
in their hands, I will start for Spain 

29 and take you on the way. When I 
do come to you, I know I will bring 
a full blessing from Christ. 

80 Brothers, I beg of you, by our 
Lord Jesus Christ and by the love 
that the Spirit inspires, rally round 



me by praying to God for me ; pray 31 
that I may be delivered from the 
unbelievers in Judaea, and also that 
my mission to Jerusalem may 
prove acceptable to the saints. 
Then, by God's will, I shall gladly 32 
come to you and rest beside you. 

The God of peace be with you 33 
all ! Amen. 



CHAP. 

Let me introduce our sister 16 
Phoebe, a deaconess of the church 
at Cenchreae; receive her in the 2 
Lord as saints should receive one 
another, and give her any help she 
may require. She has been a help 
herself to many people, including 
myself. 

Salute Prisca and Aquila, my 3 
fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, who 4 
have risked their lives for me; I 
thank them, and not only I but 
all the Gentile churches as well. 
Also, salute the church that meets 5 
in their house. Salute my beloved 
Epaenetus, the first in Asia to be 
reaped for Christ. Salute Mary, 6 
who has worked hard for you. 
Salute Andronicus and Junias, 7 
fellow-countrymen and fellow-pris- 
oners of mine; they are men of 
note among the apostles, and they 
have been in Christ longer than I 
have. Salute Amplias, my beloved 8 
in the Lord. Salute Urbanus, 9 
our fellow-worker in Christ, and 
my beloved Stachys. Salute that 10 
tried Christian, Apelles. Salute 
those who belong to the house- 
hold of Aristobulus. Salute my fel- 11 
low-countryman Herodion. Salute 
such members of the household 
of Narcissus as are in the Lord. 
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, 12 
who work hard in the Lord. Salute 
the beloved Persis ; she has worked 



ROMANS XVI 



13 very hard in the Lord. Sahite that 
choice Christian, Rufus; also his 
mother, who has been a mother to 

14 me. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, 
Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the 

15 brothers of their company. Salute 
Philologus and Juha, Nereus and 
his sister, Olympas too, and all the 

16 saints in their company. Salute 
one another with a holy kiss. All 
the churches of Christ salute you. 

17 Brothers, I beg of you to keep 
your eye on those who stir up dis- 
sensions and put hindrances in your 
way, contrary to the doctrine which 
you have been taught. Avoid them. 

18 Such creatures are no servants of 
Christ our Lord, they are slaves of 
their own base desires ; with their 
plausible and pious talk they be- 
guile the hearts of unsuspecting 
people. But surely not of you ! 

19 Everyone has heard of your loyalty 
to the gospel; it makes me rejoice 
over you. Still, I want you to be 
experts in good and innocents in 



evil. The God of peace will socm 20 
crush Satan under your feet ! 

The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ be with you. 

Timotheus my fellow-worker 21 
salutes you; so do my fellow- 
countrymen Lucius, Jason, and 
Sosi pater. 

I Tertius, who write the letter, 22 
salute you in the Lord. 

Gaius, my host and the host of 23 
the church at large, salutes you. 
Erastus the city-treasurer salutes 
you; so does brother Quartus. 

[Now to Him who can strengthen 25 
you by my gospel, by the preach- 
ing of Jesus Christ, by revealing 
the secret purpose which after the 
silence of long ages has now been 26 
disclosed and made known on the 
basis of the prophetic scriptures (by 
command of the eternal God) to all 
the Gentiles for their obedience to 
the faith — to the only wise God be 27 
glory through Jesus Christ for ever 
and ever : Amen.] 



2m 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 

COEINTHIANS 



1 Paul, called to be an apostle 
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, 

2 with brother Sosthenes, to the 
church of God at Corinth, to those 
who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, 
called to be saints, as well as to 
all who, wherever they may be, in- 
voke the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, their Lord no less than 

3 ours : grace and peace to you from 
God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

4 I always thank my God for the 
grace of God that has been bestowed 

5 on you in Christ Jesus ; in him you 
have received a wealth of all bless- 
ing, full power to speak of your faith 
and full insight into its meaning, 

6 all of which verifies the testimony 
we bore to Christ when we were 

7 with you. Thus you lack no 
spiritual endowment during these 
days of waiting till our Lord Jesus 

8 Christ is revealed ; and to the very 
end he will guarantee that you are 
vindicated on the day of our Lord 

9 Jesus Christ. Faithful is the God 
who called you to this fellowship 
with his Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

10 Brothers, for the sake of our Lord 
Jesus Christ I beg of you all to drop 
these party-cries. There must be 
no cliques among you; you must 
regain your common temper and 

11 attitude. For Chloe's people inform 

12 me that you are quarrelling. By 
* quarrelling ' I mean that each of 
you has his party-cry, " I belong 



to Paul," "And I to Apollos," 
" And I to Cephas," " And I to 
Christ." Has Christ been parcelled 13 
out? Was it Paul who was cruci- 
fied for you ? Was it in Paul's name 
that you were baptized ? I am 14 
thankful now that I baptized none 
of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 
so that no one can say you 15 
were baptized in my name. (Well, 16 
I did baptize the household of 
Stephanas, but no one else, as 
far as I remember.) Christ did 17 
not send me to baptize but to preach 
the gospel. 

And to preach it with no fine 
rhetoric, lest the cross of Christ 
should lose its power ! Those who 18 
are doomed to perish find the story 
of the cross ' sheer folly,' but it 
means the power of God for those 
whom he saves. It is written, 19 

/ will destroy the wisdom of the 
sageSy 

I will confound the insight of the 
wise. Sage, scribe, critic of this world, 20 
where are they all? Has not God 
stultified the wisdom of the world ? 
For when the world with all its 21 
wisdom failed to know God in his 
wisdom, God resolved to save 
believers by the ' sheer folly * of 
the Christian message. Jews de- 22 
mand miracles and Greeks want 
wisdom, but our message is Christ 23 
the crucified — a stumbling-block to 
the Jews, ' sheer folly ' to the 
Greeks, but for those who are called, 24 
whether Jews or Greeks, a Christ 



I, CORINTHIANS II 



who is the power of God and the 
wisdom of God. 

25 For the ' fooHshness ' of God is 

wiser than men, 
and the ' weakness ' of God is 
stronger than men. 

26 Why, look at your own ranks, my 
brothers; not many wise men 
(that is, judged by human stand- 
ards), not many leading men, 
not many of good birth, have been 

27 called! No, 

God has chosen what is foolish 
in the world 
to shame the wise ; 

28 God has chosen what is weak in 

the world 
to shame what is strong ; 
God has chosen what is mean and 

despised in the world — 
things which are not, to put 

down things that are ; 

29 that no person may boast in the 

30 sight of God. This is the God to 
whom you owe your being in Christ 
Jesus, whom God has made our 
' Wisdom,' that is, our righteous- 
ness and consecration and redemp- 

31 tion ; so that, as it is written, 
let him who boasts boast of the 
Lord, 

OHAP. 

2 Thus when I came to you, my 
brothers, I did not come to proclaim 
to you God's secret purpose * with 
any elaborate words or wisdom. 

2 I determined among you to be 
ignorant of everything except Jesus 
Christ, and Jesus Christ the cruci- 

3 fied. It was in weakness and fear 
and with great trembling that I 

4 visited you ; what I said, what I 
preached, did not rest on the 
plausible arguments of 'wisdom' 

* The textual evidence for fiaprvpiop is 
slightly stronger, but I incline upon the 
whole to regard it as a secondary reading, 
due to i. 6, and to adopt yLvariipiov. 
206 



but on the proof supplied by the 
Spirit and its power, so that your 5 
faith might not rest on any human 
* wisdom ' but on the power of God. 

We do discuss ' wisdom ' with 6 
those who are mature; only it is 
not the wisdom of this world or of 
the dethroned Powers who rule 
this world, it is the mysterious 7 
Wisdom of God that we discuss, 
that hidden wisdom which God 
decreed from all eternity for our 
glory. None of the Powers of this 8 \ 
world understands it (if they had, 
they would never have crucified 
the Lord of glory). No, as it is 9 
written, 

what no eye has ever seen, 

what no ear has ever heard, 

what never entered the mind of 
man, 

God has prepared all that for those 
who love him. 
And God has revealed it to us by 10 
the Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms 
everything, even the depths of 
God. 

What human being can under- 11 
stand the thoughts of a man, 
except the man's own inner 
spirit ? 

So too no one understands the 
thoughts of God, 
except the Spirit of God. 
Now we have received the Spirit — 12 
not the spirit of the world but the 
Spirit that comes from God, that we 
may understand what God bestows 
upon us. And this is what we dis- 13 
cuss, using language taught by no * 
human wisdom but by the Spirit. 
We interpret what is spiritual in 
spiritual language. The unspiritual 14 
man rejects these truths of the 
Spirit of God; to him they are 
' sheer folly,' he cannot understand 
them. And the reason is, that 
they must be read with the spiritual 



I. CORINTHIANS III, IV 



15 eye. The spiritual man, again, 
can read the meaning of everything ; 
and yet no one can read what 

16 he is. For who ever understood the 
thoughts of the Lord, so as to 
give him instruction F No one. 
Well, our thoughts are Christ's 
thoughts. 

CHAP. 

3 But I could not discuss things 
with you, my brothers, as spiritual 
persons; I had to address you as 
worldlings, as mere babes in Christ. 

2 I fed you with milk, not with soHd 
food. You were not able for solid 
food, and you are not able even 

3 now ; you are still worldly. For 
with jealousy and quarrels in your 
midst, are you not worldly, are you 
not behaving like ordinary men? 

4 When one cries, " I belong to Paul," 
and another, " I belong to ApoUos," 
what are you but men of the world ? 

5 Who is Apollos ? Who is Paul ? 
They are simply used by God to give 
you faith, each as the Lord assigns 
his task. 

6 I did the planting, Apollos did 

the watering, 
but it was God who made the 
seed grow. 

7 So neither planter nor waterer 

counts, 
but God alone who makes the 
seed grow. 

8 Still, though planter and waterer 
are on the same level, each will get 
his own wage for the special work 
that he has done. 

9 We work together in God's ser- 
vice; you are God's field to be 
planted, God's house to be built. 

10 In virtue of my commission from 
God, I laid the foundation of the 
house like an expert master-builder. 
It remains for another to build on 
this foundation. Whoever he is, let 

11 him be careful how he builds. The 



foundation is laid, namely Jesus 
Christ, and no one can lay any other. 
On that foundation anyone may 12 
build gold, silver, precious stones, 
wood, hay, or straw, but in every 13 
case the nature of his work will 
come out ; the Day will show what 
it is, for the Day breaks in fire, 
and the fire will test the work of 
each, no matter what that work 
may be. 

If the structure raised by any man 14 
survives, 
he will be rewarded ; 

if a man's work is burnt up, 15 

he will be a loser — 
and though he will be saved 
himself, he will be snatched 
from the very flames. 

Do you not know you are God's 16 
temple and that God's Spirit dwells 
within you ? God will destroy any- 17 
one who would destroy God's temple, 
for God's temple is sacred — and that 
is what you are. 

Let no one deceive himself about 18 
this; whoever of you imagines he 
is wise with this world's wisdom 
must become a ' fool,' if he is really 
to be wise. For God ranks this 19 
world's wisdom as ' sheer folly.' 
It is written. He seizes the wise in 
their craftiness , and again. The Lord 20 
knows the reasoning of the wise is 
futile. 

So you must not boast about men. 21 
For all belongs to you; Paul, 22 
Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, 
death, the present and the future — 
all belongs to you ; and you belong 23 
to Christ, and Christ to God. 

OHAP. 

This is how you are to look upon 4t 
us, as servants of Christ and 
stewards of God's secret truths. 
Now in stewards your first require- 2 
ment is that they must be trust- 
worthy. It matters very little to me 8 

207 



I. CORINTHIANS V 



that you or any human court should 
cross-question me on this point. 
I do not even cross-question my- 
i self ; for, although I am not conscious 
of having anything against me, 
that does not clear me. It is the 
Lord who cross-questions me on the 

5 matter. So do not criticize at 
all; the hour of reckoning has 
still to come, when the Lord will 
come to bring dark secrets to the 
light and to reveal life's inner 
aims and motives. Then each of 
us will get his meed of praise from 
God. 

6 Now I have appHed what has 
been said above to myself and 
Barnabas, to teach you ... * that 
you are not to be puffed up with 
rivalry over one teacher as against 

7 another. Who singles you out, my 
brother ? What do you possess that 
has not been given you? And if 
it was given you, why do you boast 
as if it had been gained, not given ? 

8 You Corinthians have your heart's 
desire already, have you? You 
have heaven's rich bliss already I 
You have come into your kingdom 
without us ! I wish indeed you had 
come into your kingdom, so that we 

9 could share it with you ! For it 
seems to me that God means us 
apostles to come in at the very end, 
like the doomed gladiators in the 
arena ! We are made a spectacle 
to the world, to angels and to men ! 

10 We, for Christ's sake, are * fools ' ; 
you in Christ are sensible. We are 
weak, you are strong; you are 

11 honoured, we are in disrepute. To 
this very hour we hunger and thirst, 
we are ill-clad and knocked about, 

12 we are waifs, we work hard for 
our living ; when reviled, we bless ; 

* The text and the meaning of the 
phrase between fiderire and 'iva i»,ii aie 
beyond recovery. 
S08 



when persecuted, we put up 
with it ; when defamed, we try 13 
to conciHate. To this hour we 
are treated as the scum of the 
earth, the very refuse of the 
world ! 

I do not write this to make you 14 
feel ashamed, but to instruct you as 
beloved children of mine. You may 15 
have thousands to superintend you 
in Christ, but you have not more 
than one father. It was I who in 
Christ Jesus became your father by 
means of the gospel. Then imitate 16 
me, I beg of you. To ensure this, 17 
I am sending you Timotheus, my 
beloved and trustworthy son in the 
Lord ; he will remind you of those 
methods in Christ Jesus which I 
teach everywhere in every church. 
Certain individuals have got puffed 18 
up, have they, as if I were not com- 
ing myself ? I will come to you be- 19 
fore long, if the Lord wills, and then 
I will find out from these puffed up 
creatures not what their talk but 
what their power amounts to. For 20 
God's Reign does not show itself 
in talk but in power. Which is 21 
it to be ? Am I to come to you with 
a rod of discipHne or with love and 
gentleness ? 

CHAP. 

It is actually reported that there 5 
is immorality among you, and im- 
morality such as is unknown even 
among pagans — that a man has 
taken his father's wife I And yet 2 
you are puffed up I You ought 
much rather to be mourning the loss 
of a member ! Expel the perpe- 
trator of such a crime ! For my 8 
part, present with you in spirit 
though absent in body, I have 
already passed sentence on such 
an offender as this, by the authority 4 
of our Lord Jesus Christ; I have 



I. CORINTHIANS VI 



met with you in spirit and by the 

5 power of our Lord Jesus I have 
consigned that individual to Satan 
for the destruction of his flesh, in 
order that his spirit may be saved 

6 on the Day of the Lord Jesus. Your 
boasting is no credit to you. Do 
you not know that a morsel of 
dough will leaven the whole lump ? 

7 Clean out the old dough that you 
may be a fresh lump. For you are 
free from the old leaven; Christ 
our paschal lamb has been sacrificed. 

8 So let us celebrate our festival, 
not with any old leaven, not with 
vice and evil, but with the un- 
leavened bread of innocence and 
integrity. 

9 In my letter I wrote that you were 
not to associate with the immoral. 

10 I did not mean you were literally to 
avoid contact ^vith the immoral in 
this world, with the lustful and the 
thievish, or with idolaters ; in that 
case you would have to leave the 

11 world altogether. What I now 
write is that you are not to associate 
with any so-called brother who is 
immoral or lustful or idolatrous 
or given to abuse or drink or rob- 
bery. Associate with him ! Do not 

12 even eat with him ! Outsiders it 
is no business of mine to judge. 
You must judge those who are in- 
side the church, for yourselves; 

13 as for outsiders, God will judge 
them. Expel the wicked from your 
company. 



6 When any of you has a grievance 
against his neighbour, do you dare 
to go to law in a sinful pagan court, 
instead of laying the case before 

2 the saints ? Do you not know the 
saints are to manage the world? 
If the world is to come under your 
jurisdiction, are you incompetent 



to adjudicate upon trifles ? Do you 3 
not know we are to manage angels, 
let alone mundane issues ? And 4 
yet, when you have mundane issues 
to settle, you refer them to the 
judgment of men who from the point 
of view of the church are of no ac- 
count ! I say this to put you to 5 
shame. Has it come to this, 
that there is not a single wise man 
among you who could decide a 
dispute between members of the 
brotherhood, instead of one brother 6 
going to law with another — and 
before unbelievers too ! Even to 7 
have law-suits with one another is 
in itself evidence of defeat. Why 
not rather let yourselves be 
wronged? Why not rather let 
yourselves be defrauded? But 8 
instead of that you inflict wrong 
and practise frauds — and that 
upon members of the brotherhood ! 
What I do you not know that the 9 
wicked will not inherit the Realm 
of God? Make no mistake about 
it; neither the immoral nor 
idolaters nor adulterers nor cata- 
mites nor sodomites nor thieves 10 
nor the lustful nor the drunken nor 
the abusive nor robbers will inherit 
the Realm of God. Some of you 11 
were once like that ; but you washed 
yourselves clean, you were con- 
secrated, you were justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
in the Spirit of our God. 

' All things are lawful for me * ? 12 

Yes, but not all are good for me. 
' All things are lawful for me ' ? 
Yes, but I am not going to let 
anything master me. 
' Food is meant for the stomach, 13 
and the stomach for food * ? 
Yes, and God will do away with 
the one and the other. 
The body is not meant for im- 

209 



I. CORINTHIANS VII 



morality but for the Lord, and the 

14 Lord is for the body; and the God 
who raised the Lord will also raise 

15 us by his power. Do you not know 
your bodies are members of Christ ? 
Am I to take Christ's members 
and devote them to a harlot? 

16 Never ! Do you not know that 

he who joins himself to a harlot 
is one with her in body 
(for the pair, it is said, shall 
become one -flesh), 

17 while he who joins himself to the 

Lord 
is one with him in spirit. 

18 Shun immorality ! Any other sin 
that a man commits is outside the 
body, but the immoral man sins 

19 against his body. Do you not 
know your body is the temple of 
the holy Spirit within you — the 
Spirit you have received from God? 

20 You are not your own, you were 
bought for a price; then glorify 
God with your body. 



7 Now about the questions in your 
letter. 

It is an excellent thing for a man 
to have no intercourse with a 

2 woman ; but there is so much im- 
morality that every man had better 
have a wife of his own and every 
woman a husband of her own. 

3 The husband must give the wife 

her conjugal dues, 
and the wife in the same way 
must give her husband his ; 

4 the wife cannot do as she pleases 

with her body — her husband 
has power, 
and in the same way the 
husband cannot do as he 
pleases with his body — his 
wife has power. 

5 Do not withhold sexual intercourse 
from one another, unless you agree 

210 



to do so for a time in order to devote 
yourselves to prayer. Then come 
together again. You must not let 
Satan tempt you through incon- 
tinence. But what I have just said 6 
is by way of concession, not com- 
mand. I would like all men to be 7 
as I am. However, everyone is 
endowed by God in his own way; 
he has a gift for the one life or the 
other. 

To the unmarried and to widows 8 
I would say this : it is an excellent 
thing if like me they remain as they 
are. Still, if they cannot restrain 9 
themselves, let them marry. Better \ 
marry than be aflame with passion ! 

For married people these are 10 
my instructions (and they are the 
Lord's, not mine). A wife is not to 
separate from her husband — if she 11 
has separated, she must either re- 
main single or be reconciled to him 
— and a husband must not put 
away his wife. 

To other people I would say 12 
(not the Lord) : — 

if any brother has a wife who is 
not a believer, 
and if she consents to live with 
him, 
he must not put her away ; 
and if any wife has a husband 13 

who is not a believer, 
and if he consents to live with 
her, 
she must not put her hus- 
band away. 
For the unbelieving husband is 14 
consecrated in the person 
of his wife, 
and the unbelieving wife is 
consecrated in the person 
of the Christian brother 
she has married; 
otherwise, of course, your children 
would be unholy instead of being 
consecrated to God. (Should the 15 



1. CORINTHIANS VII 



unbelieving partner be determined 
to separate, however, separation 
let it be ; in such cases the Christian 
brother or sister is not tied to mar- 
riage.) It is to a Hfe of peace that 

16 God has called us.* O wife, how do 
you know you may not save your 
husband ? O husband, how do you 
know you may not save your wife ? 

17 Only, everyone must lead the lot 
assigned him by the Lord ; he must 
go on living the life in which God's 
call came to him. (Such is the rule 
I lay down for all the churches). 

18 Was a man circumcised at the 

time he was called? 

Then he is not to efface the 
marks of it. 
Has any man been called when 
he was uncircumcised ? 

Then he is not to get circum- 
cised. 

19 Circumcision counts for nothing, 
uncircumcision counts for nothing ; 
obedience to God's commands is 

20 everything. Everyone must remain 
in the condition of life where he was 

21 called. You were a slave when 
you were called? Never mind. 
Of course, if you do find it possible 
to get free, you had better avail 

22 yourself of the opportunity. But 
a slave who is called to be in the 
Lord is a freedman of the Lord. 
Just as a free man who is called is 

23 a slave of Christ (for you were 
bought for a price; you must not 

24 turn slaves to any man). Brothers, 
everyone must remain with God 
in the condition of life where he 
was called, 

25 I have no orders from the Lord 
for unmarried women, but I will 
give you the opinion of one whom 
you can trust, after all the Lord's 

* Beading rifias with B D G, the Latin 
version, Origen, Chrysostom, etc., instead 
of {ffia$» 



mercy to him. Well, what I think 26 
is this : that, considering the immi- 
nent distress in these days, it would 
be an excellent plan for you to re- 
main just as you are. 

Are you tied to a wife ? Never 27 
try to untie the knot. 
Are you free ? Never try to 
get married. 
Of course, if you are actually 28 
married, there is no sin in 
that ; 
and if a maid marries, there is 
no sin in that. 
(At the same time those who marry 
will have outward trouble — and I 
would spare you that.) I mean, 29 
brothers, — 

the interval has been shortened ; 
so let those who have wives live 

as if they had none, 
let mourners live as if they were 30 

not mourning, 
let the joyful live as if they had 

no joy, 
let buyers live as if they had no 

hold on their goods, 
let those who mix in the world 81 
live as if they were not en- 
grossed in it, 
for the present phase of things 
is passing away. 
I want you to be free from all 32 
anxieties. 

The unmarried man is anxious 
about the Lord's affairs, 
how best to satisfy the Lord; 
the married man is anxious about S3 
worldly affairs, 
how best to satisfy his wife — 
so he is torn in two directions. 34 
The unmarried woman or the 
maid t is also anxious about 
the Lord's affairs, 
how to be consecrated, body 
and spirit; 

f Reading ^ yw^ t} ^yafios Koi ^ rapOevos 
with p" B P, the Vulgate, etc. 

211 



I. CORINTHIANS VIII, IX 



once married, she is anxious about 

worldly affairs, 

how best to satisfy her husband. 

85 I am saying this in your own 

interests. Not that I want to 

restrict your freedom. It is only to 

secure decorum and concentration 

upon a life of devotion to the Lord. 

36 At the same time, if any man con- 
siders he is not behaving properly 
to the maid who is his spiritual 
bride, if his passions are strong and 
if it must be so, then let him do what 
he wants — let them be married; 

37 it is no sin for him. But the man 
of firm purpose who has made up 
his mind, who, instead of being 
forced against his will, has deter- 
mined to himself to keep his maid 
a spiritual bride — that man will 

38 be doing the right thing. Thus 
both are right alike in marrying 
and in refraining from marriage, 
but he who does not marry will be 
found to have done better. 

39 A woman is bound to her hus- 
band during his lifetime ; but if he 
dies, she is free to marry anyone 
she pleases — only, it must be a 

40 Christian. However, she is happier 
if she remains as she is ; that is my 
opinion — and I suppose I have the 
Spirit of God as well as other people! 



CHAP. 

8 



With regard to food that has 



been offered to idols. Here, of 
course, ' we all possess knowledge ' ! 
Knowledge puffs up, love builds 

2 up. Whoever imagines he has 
attained to some degree of know- 
ledge, does not possess the true 

3 knowledge yet ; but if anyone loves 
4s God, he is known by Him. Well 

then, with regard to food that has 
been offered to idols, I am quite 
aware that ' there is no such thing 
as an idol in the world' and that 
212 



'there is only the one God.' (So* 
called gods there may be, in heaven 
or on earth — as indeed there are 
plenty of them, both gods and 
* lords ' — but for us 

there is one God, the Father, 
from whom all comes, 
and for whom we exist; 

one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
by whom all exists, 

and by whom we exist.) 
But remember, it is not everyone 
who has this ' knowledge.' Some 
who have hitherto been accus- 
tomed to idols eat the food as food 
which has been really offered to an 
idol, and so their weaker conscience 
is contaminated. Now mere food 
will not bring us any nearer to God ; 

if we abstain we do not lose any- 
thing, 

and if we eat we do not gain 
anything. 
But see that the exercise of your 
right does not prove any stumbling- 
block to the weak. Suppose any- 
one sees you, a person of enlightened 
mind, reclining at meat inside an 
idol's temple; will that really 
' fortify his weak conscience ' ? 
Will it not embolden him to violate 
his scruples of conscience by eating 
food that has been offered to idols ? 
He is ruined, this weak man, ruined 
by your ' enlightened mind,' this 
brother for whose sake Christ died ! 
By sinning against the brotherhood 
in this way and wounding their 
weaker consciences, you are sinning 
against Christ. Therefore if food 
is any hindrance to my brother's 
welfare, sooner than injure him I 
will never eat flesh as long as I live, 
never I 



Am I not free? Am I not an 
apostle ? Have I not seen Jesus our 



i 



9 
10 



11 



12 



13 



I. CORINTHIANS IX 



Lord? Are you not the work I 
have accomplished in the Lord? 

2 To other people I may be no apostle, 
but to you I am, for you are the 
seal set upon my apostleship in the 

3 Lord. Here is my reply to my 

4 inquisitors. Have we no right to 
eat and drink at the expense of 

5 the churches ? Have we no right 
to travel with a Christian wife, like 
the rest of the apostles, like the 
brothers of the Lord, like Cephas 

6 himself ? What ! are we the only 
ones, myself and Barnabas, who 
are denied the right of abstaining 

7 from work for our living ? Does 
a soldier provide his own supplies ? 
Does a man plant a vineyard with- 
out eating its produce? Does a 
shepherd get no drink from the milk 

8 of the flock ? Human arguments, 
you say? But does not Scripture 

9 urge the very same? It is written 
in the law of Moses, You must not 
muzzle an ox when he is treading the 
grain. Is God thinking here about 

10 cattle ? Or is he speaking purely 
for our sakes? Assuredly for our 
sakes. This word was written be- 
cause the ploughman needs to 
plough in hope, and the thresher to 
thresh in the hope of getting a share 

11 in the crop. If we sowed you the 
seeds of spiritual good, is it a great 
matter if we reap your worldly 

12 goods ? If others share this right 
over you, why not we all the more ? 
We did not avail ourselves of it, you 
say? No, we do not mind any 
privations if we can only avoid 
putting any obstacle in the way of 

13 the gospel of Christ. Do you not 
know that as men who perform 
temple-rites get their food from 
the temple, and as attendants at 
the altar get their share of the sacri- 

14 fices, so the Lord's instructions were 
that those who proclaim the gospel 



are to get their living by the gospel ? 
Only, I have not availed myself of 15 
any of these rights, and I am not 
writing in order to secure any such 
provision for myself. I would die 
sooner than let anyone deprive me of 
this, my source of pride. What I am 16 
proud of is not the mere preaching 
of the gospel ; that I am constrained 
to do. Woe to me if I do not preach 
the gospel ! I get a reward if I do 17 
it of my own accord, whereas to do 
it otherwise is no more than for a 
steward to discharge his trust. And 18 
my reward? This, that I can 
preach the gospel free of charge, 
that I can refrain from insisting on 
all my rights as a preacher of the 
gospel. Why, 19 

free as I am from all, I have made 
myself the slave of all, 
to win over as many as I 
could. 
To Jews I have become like a 20 
Jew, 
to win over Jews; 
to those under the Law I have 
become as one of them- 
selves — 
though I am not under the Law 
myself — 
to win over those under the 
Law; 
to those outside the Law I have 21 
become like one of them- 
selves — 
though I am under Christ's law, 
not outside God's Law — 
to win over those outside 
the Law; 
to the weak I have become as 22 
weak myself, 
to win over the weak. 
To all men I have become all 
things, 
to save some by aU and 
every means. 
And I do it all for the sake of 23 

213 



I. CORINTHIANS X 



the gospel, to secure my own share 

24 in it. Do you not know that in a 
race, though all run, only one man 
gains the prize ? Run so as to win 

25 the prize. Every athlete practices 
self-restraint all round; but while 
they do it to win a fading wreath, 

26 we do it for an unfading. Well, I 
run without swerving; I do not 
plant my blows upon the empty 

27 air — no, I maul and master my 
body, in case, after preaching to 
other people, I am disqualified my- 
self. 



10 For I would have you know this, 
my brothers, that while our fathers 
all lived under the cloud, all crossed 

2 through the sea, all were baptized 
into Moses by the cloud and by the 

3 sea, all ate the same spiritual food, 

4 and all drank the same spiritual 
drink (drinking from the spiritual 
Rock which accompanied them — 

5 and that Rock was Christ), still 
with most of them God was not 
satisfied; they were laid low in the 

6 desert. Now this took place as a 
warning for us, to keep us from 

7 craving for evil as they craved. And 
you must not be idolaters, like some 
of them ; as it is written, 

the people sat down to eat and 

drink, 
and they rose up to make sport. 

8 Nor must we commit immorality, 
as some of them did — and in a single 
day twenty-three thousand of them 

9 fell. Nor must we presume upon 
the Lord as some of them did — 
only to be destroyed by serpents. 

10 And you must not murmur, as some 
of them did — only to be destroyed 

11 by the Destroying angel. It all 
happened to them by way of warn- 
ing for others, and it was written 
down for the purpose of instructing 

214 



us whose lot has been cast in the 
closing hours of the world. So let 12 
anyone who thinks he stands secure, 
take care in case he falls. No 13 
temptation has waylaid you that 
is beyond man's power ; trust God, 
he will never let you be tempted 
beyond what you can stand, but 
when temptation comes, he will 
provide the way out of it, so that 
you can bear up under it. 

Shun idolatry, then, my beloved. 14 
I am speaking to sensible people; 15 
weigh my words for yourselves. 
The cup of blessing, which we 16 
bless, 

is that not participating in the 
blood of Christ ? 
The bread we break, 

is that not participating in the 
body of Christ? 
(for many as we are, we are one 17 
Bread, one Body, since we all par- 
take of the one Bread). Look at 18 
the rites of Israel. Do not those 
who eat the sacrifices participate in 
the altar? Do I imply, you ask, 19 
that 'food offered to an idol has 
any meaning, or that an idol itself 
means anything ' ? No, what I 20 
imply is that anything people 
sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons not 
to God. And I do not want you to 
participate in daemons ! You can- 21 
not drink the cup of the Lord and 
also the cup of daemons; you can- 
not partake of the table of the 
Lord and also of the table of 
daemons. What / do we intend to 22 
rouse the Lord's jealousy ? Are we 
stronger than he is? 
' All tilings are lawful ' ? 23 

Yes, but not all are good for 

us. 
' All things are lawful ' ? 

Yes, but not all are edifying. 
Each of us must consult his neigh- 24 
hour's interests, not his own. Eat 25 



I. CORINTHIANS XI 



any food that has been sold in the 
market, instead of letting scruples 
of conscience oblige 3^ou to ask any 

26 questions about it ; the earth and all 

27 its contents belong to the Lord. When 
an unbeliever invites you to dinner 
and you agree to go, eat whatever is 
put before you, instead of letting 
scruples of conscience induce you to 

28 ask any questions about it. But if 
someone tells you, ' This was sacri- 
ficial meat,' then do not eat it ; you 
must consider the man who told 
you, and also take conscience into 

29 account — his conscience, I mean, 
not your own ; for why should one's 
own freedom be called in question 

30 by someone else's conscience? If 
one partakes of food after saying a 
blessing over it, why should one be 
denounced for eating what one has 

81 given thanks to God for? So 
whether you eat or drink, or what- 
ever you do, let it be all done for 

82 the glory of God. Put no stumbling- 
block in the way of Jews or Greeks 

83 or the church of God. Such is my 
own rule, to satisfy all men in all 
points, aiming not at my own ad- 
vantage but at the advantage of 
the greater number — at their salva- 

11 tion. Copy me, as I copy Christ. 

2 I commend you for always bear- 
ing me in mind and for maintaining 
the traditions I passed on to you. 

3 But I would like you to understand 
this : Christ is the head of every 
man, man is the head of woman, 

4 and God is the head of Christ. Any 
man who prays or prophesies with 
a veil on his head dishonours his 

5 head, while any woman who prays 
or prophesies without a veil on 
her head dishonours her head; she 
is no better than a shaven woman. 

6 If a woman will not veil herself, 
she should cut off her hair as well. 
But she ought to veil herself ; for it 



is disgraceful that a woman should 
have her hair cut off or be shaven. 
Man does not require to have a veil 7 
on his head, for he represents the 
likeness and supremacy of God ; but 
woman represents the supremacy 
of man. (Man was not made from 8 
woman, woman was made from 
man; and man was not created 9 
for woman, but woman for man.) 
Therefore, in view of the angels, 10 
woman must wear a symbol of sub- 
jection on her head. (Of course, in 11 
the Lord, woman does not exist 
apart from man, any more than man 
apart from woman; for as woman 12 
was made from man, so man is now 
made from woman, while both, like 
all things, come from God.) Judge 13 
for yourselves; is it proper for an 
unveiled woman to pray to God? 
Surely nature herself teaches you 14 
that while long hair is disgraceful 
for a man, for a woman long hair 15 
is a glory ? Her hair is given her 
as a covering. If anyone pre- 16 
sumes to raise objections on this 
point — well, I acknowledge no other 
mode of worship, and neither do the 
churches of God. 

But in giving you the following 17 
injunction I cannot commend you; 
for you are the worse, not the better, 
for assembling together. First of 18 
all, in your church-meetings I am 
told that cliques prevail. And I 
partly believe it. There must be 19 
parties among you, if genuine 
Christians are to be recognized. 
But this makes it impossible for 20 
you to eat the ' Lord's ' supper 
when you hold your gatherings. 
As you eat, everyone takes his 21 
own supper ; one goes hungry while 
another gets drunk. What ! have 22 
you no houses to eat and drink in ? 
Do you think you can show dis- 
respect to the church of God and 

215 



I. CORINTHIANS XII 



put the poor to shame? What 
can I say to you? Commend 

23 you ? Not for this. I passed on 
to you what I received from the 
Lord himself, namely, that on the 
night he was betrayed the Lord 

24 Jesus took a loaf, and after thank- 
ing God he broke it, saying, 
* This means my body broken * for 

25 you ; do this in memory of me.' In 
the same way he took the cup after 
supper, saying, ' This cup means 
the new covenant ratified by my 
blood ; as often as you drink it, do 

26 it in memory of me.' For as often 
as you eat this loaf and drink this 
cup, you proclaim the Lord's death 

27 until he comes. Hence anyone 
who eats the loaf or drinks the cup 
of the Lord carelessly, will have to 
answer for a sin against the body 

28 and the blood of the Lord. Let a 
man test himself; then he can eat 
from the loaf and drink from the 

29 cup. For he who eats and drinks 
without a proper sense of the Body, 
eats and drinks to his own con- 

30 demnation. That is why many of 
you are ill and infirm, and a number 

31 even dead. If we only judged our 
own lives truly, we would not come 

32 under the Lord's judgment. As it 
is, we are chastened when we are 
judged by him, so that we may 
not be condemned along with the 
world. 

33 Well then, my brothers, when 
you gather for a meal, wait for 

34 one another ; and if anyone is 
hungry let him eat at home. You 
must not gather only to incur 
condemnation. 

* Von Soden brackets K\d)fi€vov, but it 
must be read with &^c C^, two correctors 
of D (which originally read BpvirrSfievov), 
G, the Old Latin and Syriac Vulgate, 
Chrysostom, etc. If it is a gloss, it is a 
correct one, unless the Lucan BiS6/i€vou be 
preferred. 
216 



I will give you my instructions 
upon the other matters when I 
come. 

CHAP. 

But I want you to understand 12 
about spiritual gifts, brothers. You 2 
know, when you were pagans, how 
your impulses led you to dumb 
idols ; so I tell you now, that no one 3 
is speaking in the Spirit of God when 
he cries, ' Cursed be Jesus,' and 
that no one can say, ' Jesus is Lord ' 
except in the holy Spirit. 

There are varieties of talents, 4 
but the same Spirit; 

varieties of service, 5 

but the same Lord ; 

varieties of effects, 6 

but the same God who effects 
everything in everyone. 
Each receives his manifestation of 7 
the Spirit for the common good. 
One man is granted words of wis- 8 
dom by the Spirit, another words 
of knowledge by the same Spirit; 
one man in the same Spirit has the 9 
gift of faith, another in the one 
Spirit has gifts of healing; one has 10 
prophecy, another the gift of dis- 
tinguishing spirits, another the gift 
of ' tongues ' in their variety, 
another the gift of interpreting 
' tongues.' But all these effects 11 
are produced by one and the 
same Spirit, apportioning them 
severally to each individual as he 
pleases. 

As the human body is one and 12 
has many members, all the mem- 
bers of the body forming one body 
for all their number, so is it with 
Christ. For by one Spirit we have 13 
all been baptized into one Body, 
Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen ; 
we have all been imbued with one 
Spirit. Why, even the body con- 14 
sists not of one member but of 
many. If the foot were to say, 15 



I. CORINTHIANS XIII 



' Because I am not the hand, I do 

not belong to the body,' that does 
not make it no part of the body. 

16 If the ear were to say, ' Because I 
am not the eye, I do not belong 
to the body,' that does not make it 

17 no part of the body. If the body 
were all eye, where would hearing 
be ? If the body were all ear, where 

18 would smell be ? As it is, God has 
set the members in the body, each 

19 as it pleased him. If they all made 
up one member, what would become 

20 of the body ? As it is, there are 

21 many members and one body. The 
eye cannot say to the hand, ' I have 
no need of you,' nor again the head 
to the feet, * I have no need of you.' 

22 Quite the contrary. We cannot do 
without those very members of the 
body which are considered rather 

23 delicate, just as the parts we con- 
sider rather dishonourable are the 
very parts we invest with special 
honour; our indecorous parts get 

24 a special care and attention which 
does not need to be paid to our 
more decorous parts. Yes, God 
has tempered the body together, 
with a special dignity for the 

25 inferior parts, so that there may 
be no disunion in the body, but 
that the various members should 
have a common concern for one 

26 another. Thus 

if one member suffers, 

all the members share its suffer- 
ing; 
if one member is honoured, 
all the members share its 
honour. 

27 Now you are Christ's Body, and 

28 severally members of it. That is 
to say, God has set people within 
the church to be first of all apostles, 
secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, 
then workers of miracles, then 
healers, helpers, administrators, 



and speakers in ' tongues ' of vari- 
ous kinds. Are all apostles ? Are 29 
all prophets ? Are all teachers ? 
Are all workers of miracles ? Are 30 
all endowed with the gifts of 
heahng? Are all able to speak 
in * tongues ' ? Are all able to 
interpret ? 

Set your hearts on the higher 31 
talents. And yet I will go on to 
show you a still higher path. Thus, 
I may speak with the tongues of 13 
men and of angels, 
but if I have no love, 

I am a noisy gong or a 
clanging cymbal ; 
I may prophesy, fathom all 2 

mysteries and secret lore, 
I may have such absolute faith 
that I can move hills from 
their place, 
but if I have no love, 
I count for nothing; 
I may distribute all I possess in 3 

charity, 
I may give up my body to be 
burnt, 
but if I have no love, 
I make nothing of it. 
Love is very patient, very kind. 4 
Love knows no jealousy; love 
makes no parade, gives itself no 
airs, is never rude, never selfish, 5 
never irritated, never resentful ; 
love is never glad when others go 6 
wrong, love is gladdened by good- 
ness, always slow to expose, always 7 
eager to beheve the best, always 
hopeful, always patient. Love 8 
never disappears. As for prophesy- 
ing, it will be superseded; as for 
'tongues,' they will cease; as for 
knowledge, it will be superseded. 
For we only know bit by bit, and 9 
we only prophesy bit by bit ; but 10 
when the perfect comes, the im- 
perfect will be superseded. When 11 
I was a child, I talked like a child, 

217 



I. CORINTHIANS XIV 



I thought like a child, I argued like 
a child; now that I am a man, I 
am done with childish ways. 

12 At present we only see the baffling 

reflections in a mirror, 
but then it will be face to 

face; 
at present I am learning bit by 

bit, 
but then I will understand, as 

all along I have myself been 

understood. 

13 Thus ' faith and hope and love 
last on, these three,' but the 

14 greatest of all is love. Make 
love your aim, and then set your 
heart on the spiritual gifts — espe- 

2 cially upon prophecj^ For he who 
speaks in a ' tongue ' addresses 
God not men; no one understands 
him ; he is talking of divine secrets 

3 in the Spirit. On the other hand, 
he who prophesies addresses men in 
words that edify, encourage, and 

4 console them. He who speaks in a 
* tongue' edifies himself, whereas 
he who prophesies edifies the 

5 church. Now I would like you all 
to speak with ' tongues,' but I 
would prefer you to prophesy. The 
man who prophesies is higher than 
the man who speaks with * tongues ' 
— unless indeed the latter interprets, 
so that the church may get edifica- 

6 tion. Suppose now I were to come 
to you speaking with * tongues,' 
my brothers ; what good could I do 
you, unless I had some revelation 
or knowledge or prophecy or teach- 

7 ing to lay before you ? Inanimate 
instruments, such as the flute or 
the harp, may give a sound, but if 
no intervals occur in their music, 
how can one make out the air that 
is being played either on flute or 

8 on harp ? If the trumpet sounds 
indistinct, who will get ready for 

9 the fray ? Well, it is the same 

218 



with yourselves. Unless your 
tongue utters language that is 
readily understood, how can people 
make out what you say ? You will 
be pouring words into the empty 
air ! There are ever so many kinds 10 
of language in the world, every one 
of them meaning something. Well, 11 
unless I understand the meaning of 
what is said to me, I will appear to 
the speaker to be talking gibberish, 
and to my mind he will be talking 
gibberish himself. So with your- 12 
selves; since your heart is set on 
possessing ' spirits,' make the edifi- 
cation of the church your aim in this 
desire to excel. Thus a man who 13 
speaks in a ' tongue ' must pray for 
the gift of interpreting it. For if 14 
I pray with a ' tongue,' my spirit 
prays, no doubt, but my mind 
is no use to anyone. Very well 15 
then, I will pray in the Spirit, but I 
will also pray with my mind ; I will 
sing praise in the Spirit, but I will 
also sing praise with my mind. 
Otherwise, suppose you are blessing 16 
God in the Spirit, how is the out- 
sider to say * Amen ' to your 
thanksgiving? The man does not 
understand what you are saying ! 
Your thanksgiving may be all right, 17 
but then — the other man is not 
edified ! Thank God, I speak in 18 
' tongues ' more than any of you ; 
but in church I would rather say 19 
five words with my own mind for 
the instruction of other people 
than ten thousand words in a 
' tongue.' 

Brothers, do not be children in 20 
the sphere of intelligence; in evil 
be mere infants, but be mature in 
your intelligence. It is written in 21 
the Law, By men of alien tongues 
and by the lips of aliens I will speak 
to this People ; hut even so, they will 
not listen to me, saith the Lord. 



I. CORINTHIANS XV 



22 Thus • tongues ' are intended as a 
sign, not for believers but for 
unbelievers ; whereas prophesying 
is meant for believers, not for 

23 unbelievers. Hence if at a gather- 
ing of the whole church everybody 
speaks with * tongues,' and if out- 
siders or unbelievers come in, will 
they not say you are insane? 

24 Whereas, if everybody prophesies, 
and some unbeliever or outsider 
comes in, he is exposed by all, 

25 brought to book by all ; the secrets 
of his heart are brought to light, 
and so, falling on his face, he will 
worship God, declaring, ' God is 
really among you.* 

26 Very well then, brothers; when 
you meet together, each contributes 
something — a song of praise, a 
lesson, a revelation, a ' tongue,' 
an interpretation? Good, but let 

27 everything be for edification. As 
for speaking in a ' tongue,' let only 
two or at most three speak at one 
meeting, and that in turn. Also, 

28 let someone interpret ; if there is 
no interpreter, let the speaker 
keep quiet in church and address 

29 himself and God. Let only two or 
three prophets speak, while the rest 
exercise their judgment upon what 

80 is said. Should a revelation come 
to one who is seated, the first 

81 speaker must be quiet. You can 
all prophesy quite well, one after 
another, so as to let all learn and 

32 all be encouraged. Prophets can 

control their own prophetic spirits, 

83 for God is a God not of disorder but 

87 of harmony.* If anyone considers 

himself a prophet or gifted with the 

Spirit^ let him imderstand that 

♦ Transposing vers. 336-36 to the end 
of the chapter, in order to preserve the 
sequence of thought. There is some 
early textual evidence for reading 34-35 
after 40. 



what I write to you is a command of 
the Lord. Anyone who disregards 38 
this will be himself disregarded. 

To sum up, my brothers. Set 89 
your heart on the prophetic gift, 
and do not put any check upon 
speaking in ' tongues ' ; but let 40 
everything be done decorously and 
in order. 

As is the rule in all churches of 33 
the saints, women must keep quiet 34 
at gatherings of the church. They 
are not allowed to speak ; they must 
take a subordinate place, as the 
Law enjoins. If they want any 35 
information, let them ask their 
husbands at home ; it is disgraceful 
for a woman to speak in church. 
You challenge this rule ? Pray, 36 
did God's word start from you? 
Are you the only people it has 
reached ? 



Now, brothers, I would have you 15 
know the gospel I once preached to 
you, the gospel you received, the 
gospel in which you have your 
footing, the gospel by which you 2 
are saved — provided you adhere to 
my statement of it — unless indeed 
your faith was all haphazard. 

First and foremost I passed on 8 
to you what I had myself received, 
namely, that Christ died for our sins 
as the scripture had said, that he 4 
was buried, that he rose on the third 
day as the scripture had said, and 5 
that he was seen by Cephas, then by 
the twelve ; after that, he was seen 6 
by over five hundred brothers all 
at once, the majority of whom 
survive to this day, though some 
have died ; after that, he was seen 7 
by James, then by all the apostles, 
and finally he was seen by myself, 8 
by this so-called ' abortion * of an 
apostle. For I am the very least 9 

219 



I. CORINTHIANS XV 



of the apostles, unfit to bear the 
name of apostle, since I persecuted 

10 the church of God. But by God's 
grace I am what I am. The grace 
he showed me did not go for no- 
thing; no, I have done far more 
work than all of them — ^though it 
was not I but God's grace at my 

11 side. At any rate, whether I or 
they have done most, such is what 
we preach, such is what you be- 
lieved. 

12 Now if we preach that Christ rose 
from the dead, how can certain 
individuals among you assert that 
• there is no such thing as a resur- 

13 rection of the dead ' ? If ' there 
is no such thing as a resurrection 
from the dead,' then even Christ 

14 did not rise ; and if Christ did not 
rise, then our preaching has gone 
for nothing, and your faith has gone 

15 for nothing too. Besides, we are 
detected bearing false witness to 
God by affirming of him that he 
raised Christ — whom he did not 
raise, if after all dead men never 

16 rise. For if dead men never rise, 

17 Christ did not rise either ; and if 
Christ did not rise, your faith is 
futile, you are still in your sins. 

18 More than that ; those who have 
slept the sleep of death in Christ 

19 have perished after all. Ah, if in 
this life we have nothing but a mere 
hope in Christ, we are of all men 
to be pitied most ! 

20 But it is not so ! Christ did rise 
from the dead, he was the first to be 
reaped of those who sleep in death. 

21 For since death came by man, 

by man came also resurrection 
from the dead ; 
22; as all die in Adam, 

so shall all be made alive in 
Christ. 
23 But each in his own division : — 
Christ the first to be reaped ; after 
9Z0 



that, all who belong to Christ, at 
his arrival. Then comes the end, 24 
when he hands over his royal power 
to God the Father, after putting 
down all other rulers, all other 
authorities and powers. For he 25 
must reign until all his foes are put 
under his feet, (Death is the last 26 
foe to be put down.) For God has 27 
put everything under his feet. When 
it is said that everything has been 
put under him, plainly that excludes 
Him who put everything under 
him ; and when everything is put 28 
under him, then the Son himself 
will be put under Him who put 
everything under him, so that God 
may be everything to everyone. 

Otherwise, if there is no such 29 
thing as a resurrection, what is the 
meaning of people getting baptized 
on behalf of their dead? If dead 
men do not rise at all, why do 
people get baptized on their behalf ? 
Yes, and why am I myself in danger SO 
every hour ? (Not a day but I am 
at death's door ! I swear it by 31 
my pride in you, brothers, through 
Christ Jesus our Lord.) What would 32 
it avail me that, humanly speaking, 
I ' fought with wild beasts ' at 
Ephesus? If dead men do not 
rise, let us eat and drink, for we will 
be dead to-morrow ! 

Make no mistake about this : 33 
' bad company is the ruin of good 
character.' Get back to your sober 34 
senses and avoid sin, for some of 
you — and I say this to your shame 
— some of you are insensible to God. 

But, someone will ask, ' how do 35 
the dead rise ? What kind of body 
have they when they come? ' 
Foolish man ! What you sow never 36 
comes to life unless it dies. And 37 
what you sow is not the body that 
is to be ; it is a mere grain of wheat, 
for example, or some other seed. 



I. CORINTHIANS XVI 



88 God gives it a body as he pleases, 
gives each kind of seed a body of its 

39 own. Flesh is not all the same ; 
there is human flesh, there is flesh 
of beasts, flesh of birds, and flesh 

40 of fish. There are heavenly bodies 
and also earthly bodies, but the 
splendour of the heavenly is one 
thing and the splendour of the 

41 earthly is another. There is a 
splendour of the sun and a splen- 
dour of the moon and a splendour 
of the stars — for one star differs 

42 from another in splendour. So with 
the resurrection of the dead : 

what is sown is mortal, 
what rises is immortal ; 

43 sown inglorious, 

it rises in glory; 
sown in weakness, 
it rises in power; 

44 sown an animate body, 

it rises a spiritual body. 
As there is an animate body, so 

45 there is a spiritual body. Thus it 
is written, 

' The first man, Adam, became an 
animate being, 
the last Adam a life-giving 
Spirit ' ; 

46 but the animate, not the spiritual, 

comes first, 
and only then the spiritual. 

47 Man the first is from the earth, 

material ; 
Man the second is from heaven. 

48 As Man the material is, so are the 

material ; 
as Man the heavenly is, so are 
the heavenly. 

49 Thus, as we have borne the like- 

ness of material Man, 
so we are to bear * the likeness 
of the heavenly Man. 
60 I tell you this, my brothers, flesh 

• Reading <pop4(ro/jL€v with B 181 arm 
aeth, etc., instead of the strongly sup- 
ported <^0p4<r(i>fMty. 



and blood cannot inherit the Realm 
of God, nor can the perishing 
inherit the imperishable. Here is 51 
a secret truth for you : not all of 
us are to die, but all of us are to be 
changed — changed in a moment, 52 
in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
last trumpet-call. The trumpet will 
sound, the dead will rise imperish- 
able, and we shall be changed. 
For this perishing body must be 53 
invested with the imperishable, 
and this mortal body invested with 
immortality; and when this mortal 54 
body has been invested with im- 
mortality,t then the saying of 
Scripture will be realized. 

Death is swallowed up in victory, 
O Death, where is your victory ? 55 
Death, where is your sting ? % 
The victory is ours, thank God ! 57 
He makes it ours by our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Well then, my beloved 58 
brothers, hold your ground, im- 
movable; abound in work for the 
Lord at all times, for you may be 
sure that in the Lord your labour 
is never thrown away. 



With regard to the collection for 16 
the saints, you must carry out the 
same arrangements as I made for 
the churches of Galatia. On the first 2 
day of the week let each of you 
put aside a sum from his weekly 
gains, so that the money may not 
have to be collected when I come. 
On my arrival I will furnish 8 

f Omitting t^ (pdaprhv rovro ^v^va-qrai 
acpdapaiau, Kai with &5* C* and most of the 
versions. The phrase was probably in- 
serted for the sake of completing the 
parallel. 

+ After this verse, the words " The 
sting of sin is death, and the strength of 
sin is the Law " have been added either 
as a gloss by some editor or perhaps as a 
marginal note by Paul himself. 

221 



I. CORINTHIANS XVI 



credentials for those whom you 
select, and send them to convey 

4 your bounty to Jerusalem; if the 
sum makes it worth my while to go 
too, they will accompany me. 

5 I mean to visit you after my 
tour in Macedonia, for I am going 
to make a tour through Macedonia. 

6 The chances are I will spend 
some time with you, possibly even 
pass the winter with you, so that 
you may speed me forward on any 

7 journey that lies before me. I do 
not care about seeing you at this 
moment merely in the by-going; 
my hope is to stay among you for 
some time, with the Lord's per- 

8 mission. I am staying on for the 
present at Ephesus till Pentecost, 

9 for I have wide opportunities here 
for active service — and there are 
many to thwart me. 

10 If Timotheus arrives, see that you 
make him feel quite at home with 
you; he carries on the work of the 

11 Lord as I do. So let no one dispar- 
age him. When he leaves to rejoin 
me, speed him cordially on his 
journey, for I am expecting him 
along with the other brothers. 

12 As for our brother Apollos, I 
urged him to accompany the other 
brothers on a visit to you; he will 
come as soon as he has time, but 



for the present it is not the will of 

God that he should visit you. 

Watch, stand firm in the faith, 13 
play the man, be strong ! Let all 14 
you do be done in love. 

I ask this favour of you, my bro- 15 
thers. The household of Stephanas, 
you know, was the first to be reaped 
in Achaia, and they have laid them- 
selves out to serve the saints. Well, 16 
I want you to put yourselves under 
people like that, under everyone 
who sets his hand to the work. 

I am glad that Stephanas and 17 
Fortunatus and Achaicus have 
arrived, for they have made up for 
your absence. They refresh my 18 
spirit as they do your own. You 
should appreciate men like that. 

The churches of Asia salute you. 19 
Aquila and Prisca, with the church 
that meets in their house, salute 
you warmly in the Lord. All the 20 
brotherhood salutes you. Salute 
one another with a holy kiss. 

I Paul write this salutation with 21 
my own hand. ' If anyone has no 22 
love for the Lord, God's curse be 
on him ! Maran atha ! * The 23 
grace of the Lord Jesus be with 
you. My love be with you all in 24 
Christ Jesus.' 

* An Aramaic phrase, probably mean- 
ing *' Lord, come " (see Rev. xxii. 20). 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 

COEINTHIANS 



OHAP. 

1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus 
by the will of God, and brother 
Timotheus, to the church of God 
at Corinth as well as to all the 
saints throughout the whole of 

2 Achaia : grace and peace to you 
from God our Father and the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
of tender mercies and the God of all 

4 comfort, who comforts me in all 
my distress, so that I am able to 
comfort people who are in any dis- 
tress by the comfort with which I 

5 myself am comforted by God. For 
fcs the sufferings of Christ are abun- 
dant in my case, so my comfort is 

6 also abundant through Christ. If 
I am in distress, it is in the interests 
of your comfort and salvation; if 
I am comforted, it is in the interests 
of your comfort, which is effective 
as it nerves you to endure the same 

7 sufferings as I suffer myself. Hence 
my hope for you is well-founded, 
since I know that as you share the 
sufferings you share the comfort 
also. 

8 Now I would like you to know 
about the distress which befell me 
in Asia, brothers. I was crushed, 
crushed far more than I could 
stand, so much so that I despaired 

9 even of hfe ; in fact I told myself 
it was the sentence of death. But 
that was to make me rely not on 
myself but on the God who raises 

10 the dead ; he rescued me from so 
terrible a death, he rescues still, and 



I rely upon him for the hope that he 
will continue to rescue me. Let me 11 
have your co-operation in prayer, 
so that many a soul may render 
thanks to him on my behalf for the 
boon which many have been the 
means of him bestowing on myself. 

My proud boast is the testimony 12 
of my conscience that holiness 
and godly sincerity, not worldly 
cunning but the grace of God, have 
marked my conduct in the outside 
world and in particular my relations 
with you. You don't have to read 13 
between the lines of my letters ; you 
can understand them. Yes, I trust 
you will understand the full mean- 
ing of my letters as you have partly 14 
understood the meaning of my life, 
namely that I am your source of 
pride (as you are mine) on the Day 
of our Lord Jesus. Rel5dng on 15 
this I meant to visit you first, 
to let you have a double delight ; I 16 
intended to take you on my way to 
Macedonia, and to visit you again on 
my way back from Macedonia, so as 
to be sped by you on my journey to 
Judaea. Such was my intention. 17 
Now, have I shown myself ' fickle ' ? 
When I propose some plan, do I 
propose it in a worldly way, ready 
to mean ' no ' as well as ' yes ' ? 
By the good faith of God, my word 18 
to you was not ' yes and no * ; for 19 
the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who 
was proclaimed among you by us 
(by myself and Silvanus and 
Timotheus) was not * yes and no ' — 
the divine ' yes ' has at last sounded 



II. CORINTHIANS II, III 



20 in him, for in him is the * yes ' that 
affirms all the promises of God. 
Hence it is through him that we 
affirm our * amen ' in worship, to 

21 the glory of God. And it is God 
who confirms me along with you 

22 in Christ, who consecrated me, who 
stamped me with his seal and gave 
me the Spirit as a pledge in my 

23 heart. I call God to witness 
against my soul, it was to spare 
you that I refrained from revisiting 

24 Corinth. (Not that we lord it over 
your faith — no, we co-operate for 
your joy : you have a standing of 

2 your own in the faith.) I decided 
I would not pay you another painful 

2 visit. For if I pain you, then who 
is to give me pleasure ? None but 

3 the very people I am paining ! So 
the very reason I wrote was that I 
might not come only to be pained 
by those who ought to give me joy ; 
I relied on you all, I felt sure that 
my joy would be a joy for every 

4 one of you. For I wrote you in sore 
distress and misery of heart, with 
many a tear — not to pain you but 
to convince you of my love, my 

5 special love for you. If a certain 
individual has been causing pain, 
he has been causing pain not so 
much to me as to all of you — at 
anyrate (for I am not going to over- 
state the case) to a section of you. 

6 This censure from the majority is 
severe enough for the individual 

7 in question, so that instead of cen- 
suring you should now forgive him 
and comfort him, in case the man 
is overwhelmed by excessive re- 

8 morse. So I beg you to reinstate 

9 him in your love. For my aim 
in writing was simply to test you, 
to see if you were absolutely obedi- 

10 ent. If you forgive the man, I 
forgive him too; anything I had 
to forgive him has been forgiven 
224 



in the presence of Christ for your 
sakes, in case Satan should take 11 
advantage of our position — for I 
know his manoeuvres ! 

Well, when I reached Troas to 12 
preach the gospel of Christ, though I 
I had a wide opportunity in the ] 
Lord, my spirit could not rest, be- 13^ 
cause I did not find Titus my brother \ 
there; so I said goodbye and went 
off to Macedonia. Wherever I go, 14 
thank God, he makes my life a 
constant pageant of triumph in 
Christ, diffusing the perfume of 
his knowledge everywhere by me. 
I live for God as the fragrance of 15 
Christ breathed alike on those who 
are being saved and on those who 
are perishing, to the one a deadly 16 
fragrance that makes for death, 
to the other a vital fragrance that 
makes for life. And who is quali- 
fied for this career? I am, for I 17 
am not like most, adulterating the 
word of God ; like a man of sincerity, 
like a man of God, I speak the word 
in Christ before the very presence 
of God. 



Am I beginning again to * com- 3 
mend ' myself ? Do I need, like 
some people, to be commended by 
written certificates either to you or 
from you? Why, you are my 2 
certificate yourselves, written on 
my heart, recognized and read by 
all men ; you make it obvious that 3 
you are a letter of Christ which I 
have been employed to inscribe, 
written not with ink but with the 
Spirit of the living God, not on 
tablets of stone but on tablets of the 
human heart. Such is the confi- 4 
dence I possess through Christ in 
my service of God. It is not that I 5 
am personally qualified to form 
any judgment by myself; nay 



II. CORINTHIANS IV 



6 qualifications come from God, and 
he has further qualified me to be 
the minister of a new covenant — a 
covenant not of written law but of 
spirit ; for the written law kills but 

7 the Spirit makes alive. Now if the 
administration of death which was 
engraved in letters of stone, was 
invested with glory — so much so 
that the children of Israel could not 
gaze at the face of Moses on account 
of the dazzling glory that was fading 

8 from his face ; surely the adminis- 
tration of the Spirit must be in- 

9 vested with still greater glory. If 
there was glory in the administra- 
tion that condemned, then the ad- 
ministration that acquits abounds 

10 far more in glory (indeed, in view of 
the transcendent glory, what was 
glorious has thfus no glory at all); 

11 if what faded had its glory, then 
what lasts will be invested with far 

12 greater glory. Such being my hope 

13 then, I am quite frank and open — 
not like Moses, who used to hang a 
veil over his face to keep the children 
of Israel from gazing at the last rays 

14 of a fading glory. Besides, their 
minds were dulled, for to this very 
day, when the Old Testament is 
read aloud, the same veil hangs. 
Veiled from them the fact that the 

15 glory fades in Christ ! Yes, down 
to this day, whenever Moses is read 
aloud, the veil rests on their heart ; 

16 though whenever they turn to the 

17 Lordj the veil is removed. (The 
Lord means the Spirit, and wherever 
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 

18 open freedom.) But we all mirror 
the glory of the Lord with face un- 
veiled, and so we are being trans- 
formed into the same likeness as 
himself, passing from one glory to 
another — for this comes of the 

4 Lord the Spirit. Hence, as I 

hold this ministry by Gk)d's mercy 



to me, I never lose heart in it; 
I disown those practices which 2 
very shame conceals from view; 
I do not go about it craftily; I 
do not falsify the word of God; 
I state the truth openly and so 
commend myself to every man's 
conscience before God. Even if 3 
my gospel is veiled, it is only 
veiled in the case of the perishing ; 
there the god of this world has 4 
blinded the minds of unbelievers, 
to prevent them seeing the light 
thrown by the gospel of the glory 
of Christ, who is the likeness of God. 
(It is Christ Jesus as Lord, not my- 5 
self, that I proclaim; I am simply 
a servant of yours for Jesus' sake.) 
For God who said, " Light shall 6 
shine out of darkness," has shone 
within my heart to illuminate 
men with the knowledge of God's 
glory in the face of Christ. 

But I possess this treasure in a 7 
frail vessel of earth, to show that the 
transcending power belongs to God, 
not to myself, ; on every side I am 8 
harried but not hemmed in, per- 
plexed but not despairing, perse- 9 
cuted but not abandoned, struck 
down but not destroyed — 

wherever I go I am being killed 10 

in the body as Jesus was, 
so that the life of Jesus may 

come out in my body : 
every day of my life I am being 11 

given over to death for Jesus' 

sake, 
so that the life of Jesus may 

come out within my mortal 

flesh. 
In me then death is active, in 12 
you life. But since our spirit of 13 
faith is the same, therefore — ^as it is 
written / believed and so I spoke — I 
too believe and so I speak, sure that 14 
He who raised the Lord Jesus will 
raise me too with Jesus and set me 

22d 



II. CORINTHIANS V, VI 



15 at your side in his presence. It is 
all in your interests, so that the 
more grace abounds, the more 
thanksgiving may rise and redound 

16 to the glory of God. Hence I never 
lose heart; though my outward 
man decays, my inner man is re- 

17 newed day after day. The slight 
trouble of the passing hour * results 
in a solid glory past all comparison, 

18 for those of us whose eyes are on 
the unseen, not on the seen ; for the 
seen is transient, the unseen eternal. 

5 I know that if this earthly tent 
of mine is taken down, I get a home 
from God, made by no human 

2 hands, eternal in the heavens. It 
makes me sigh indeed, this yearning 
to be under the cover of my heavenly 

3 habitation, since I am sure that 
once so covered I shall not be 

4 ' naked ' at the hour of death. I 
do sigh within this tent of mine 
with heavy anxiety — not that I 
want to be stripped, no, but to be 
under the cover of the other, to 
have my mortal element absorbed 

5 by life. I am prepared for this 
change by God, who has given me 
the Spirit as its pledge and instal- 

6 ment. Come what may, then, I 
am confident ; I know that while I 
reside in the body I am away from 

7 the Lord (for I have to lead my life 

8 in faith, without seeing him) : and 
in this confidence I would fain 
get away from the body and re- 

9 side with the Lord. Hence also I 
am eager to satisfy him, whether in 

10 the body or away from it ; for we 
have all to appear without disguise 
before the tribunal of Christ, each 
to be requited for what he has done 
with his body, well or ill. 

11 If I ' appeal to the interests of 
men' then, it is with the fear of the 

^ Lord before my mind. What I am 
* Omitting rifiwvm 
226 



is plain to God without disguise, 
plain also, I trust, to your own con- 
science. This is not ' recommending 
myself to you again ' ; it is giving 
you an incentive to be proud of me, 
which you can use against men who 
are proud of externals instead of the 
inward reality. ' I am beside my- 
self,' am I ? Well, that is between 
myself and God. I am ' sane,' am I ? 
Well, that is in your interests ; for 
I am controlled by the love of 
Christ, convinced that as One has 
died for all, then all have died, and 
that he died for all in order to have 
the living live no longer for them- 
selves but for him who died and rose 
for them. Once convinced of this, 
then, I estimate no one by what is 
external; even though I once 
estimated Christ by what is ex- 
ternal, I no longer estimate him 
thus. There is a new creation 
whenever a man comes to be in 
Christ; what is old is gone, the 
new has come. It is all the doing 
of the God who has reconciled me 
to himself through Christ and has 
permitted me to be a minister of his 
reconciliation. For in Christ God 
reconciled the world to himself 
instead of counting men's trespasses 
against them ; and he entrusted me 
with the message of his reconcilia- 
tion. So I am an envoy for Christ, 
God appealing by me, as it were — 
be reconciled to God, I entreat you 
on behalf of Christ. For our sakes 
He made him to be sin who himself 
knew nothing of sin, so that in him 
we might become the righteousness 
of God. I appeal to you too, as 

a worker with God, do not receive 
the grace of God in vain. (He saith, 

1 have heard you in the time of 
favour, 

and helped you on the day of 
salvation. 



y 
13 

14 

15 

16 



\ 



17 i 



18 



19 

20 
21 

6 
2 



II. CORINTHIAJSIS VII 



Well, here is the time of favour, here 

8 is the day of salvation.) I put no 

obstacle in the path of any, so that 

my ministry may not be discredited ; 

4 I prove myself at all points a true 
minister of God, by great endurance, 
by suffering, by troubles, by calam- 

5 ities, by lashes, by imprisonment ; 
mobbed, toiling, sleepless, starving ; 

6 with innocence, insight, patience, 
kindness, the holy Spirit, unaffected 

7 love, true words, the power of 
God ; with the weapons of integrity 

8 for attack or for defence, amid 
honour and dishonour, amid evil 
report and good report, an ' im- 

9 postor ' but honest, ' unknown ' 
but well-known, dying but here I 
am alive, chastened but not killed, 

10 grieved but always glad, a 'pauper', 
but the means of wealth to many, 
without a penny but possessed of all. 

11 O Corinthians, I am keeping 
nothing back from you; my heart 

12 is wide open for you. ' Restraint ' ? 

13 — that lies with you, not me. A 
, fair exchange now, as the children 
"^ say ! Open your hearts wide to me. 

14 [Keep out of all incongruous ties 

with unbelievers. 
What have righteousness and 
iniquity in common, 
or how can light associate with 
darkness ? 
13 What harmony can there be be- 
tween Christ and Beliar, 
or what business has a believer 
with an unbeliever ? 

16 What compact can there be be- 

tween God's temple and 
idols ? 
For we are the temple of the living 
God — as God has said, 

I will dwell and move among 
them, 
I will be their God and they will 
be my people. 

17 Therefore come away from them. 



separate, saith the Lord, 
tou£h not what is unclean ; 
then I will receive you, 

I will be a Father to you, 18 

and you shall be my sons and 
daughters, 
saith the Lord almighty. 

As these great promises are ours, 7 
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 
from everything that contaminates 
either flesh or spirit; let us be 
fully consecrated by reverence 
for God].* Make a place for me 2 
in your hearts; I have wronged 
no one, ruined no one, taken 
advantage of no one. 

I am not saying this to condemn 3 
you. Condemn you? Why, I re- 
peat, you are in my very heart, and 
you will be there in death and life 
alike. I have absolute confidence 4 
in you, I am indeed proud of you, 
you are a perfect comfort to me, I 
am overflowing with delight, for all 
the trouble I have to bear. For 5 

I got no relief from the strain of 
things, even when I reached Mace- 
donia ; it was trouble at every turn, 
wrangling all round me, fears in 
my own mind. But the God who 6 
comforts the dejected comforted 
me by the arrival of Titus. Yes, 7 
and by more than his arrival, by 
the comfort which you had been 
to him ; for he gave me such a report 
of how you longed for me, how 
sorry you were, and how eagerly 
you took my part, that it added to 
my delight. In fact, if I did pain 8 
you by that letter, I do not regret 
it. I did regret it when I dis- 
covered t that my letter had pained 

* This bracketed paragraph (vi. 14- 
vii. 1) belongs to some other part of Paul's 
correspondence with the Corinthian 
church. 

t Reading fixeirwv with the Vulgate, 
which " alone has preserved the true read- 
ing, a being read as <» " (Hort). 

22T 



II. CORINTHIANS VIII 



9 you even for the time being, but 
I am glad now — not glad that you 
were pained but glad that your pain 
induced you to repent. For you 
were pained as God meant you to 
be pained, and so you got no harm 

10 from what I did ; the pain God is 
allowed to guide ends in a saving 
repentance never to be regretted, 
whereas the world's pain ends in 

11 death. See what this pain divine 
has done for you, how serious it 
has made you, how keen to clear 
yourselves, how indignant, how 
alarmed, how eager for me, how 
determined, how relentless ! You 
have shown in every way that you 

12 were honest in the business. So 
my letter was written to you, not 
on account of the offender nor for 
the sake of the injured party, but in 
order to let you realize before God 
how seriously you do care for me. 

13 That is what comforts me. 

And over and above my personal 
comfort, I was specially delighted 
at the delight of Titus. You have 

14 all set his mind at rest. I told him 
of my pride in you, and I have not 
been disappointed. No, just as 
all I have had to say to you has 
been true, so all I said about you to 
Titus, all my pride in you, has also 

15 proved true. His own heart goes 
out to you all the more when he 
remembers how you all obeyed him, 
and how you received him with 

16 reverence and trembling. I am 
glad to have full confidence in you. 

CHAP. 

8 Now, brothers, I have to tell you 
about the grace God has given to 

2 the churches of Macedonia. Amid 
a severe ordeal of trouble their 
overflowing joy and their deep 
poverty together have poured out 

8 a flood of rich generosity; I can 



testify that up to their means, aye 
and beyond their means, they have 
given — begging me of their own 4 
accord, most urgently, for the 
favour of contributing to the sup- 
port of the saints. They have done 5 
more than I expected; they gave 
themselves to the Lord, to begin 
with, and then (for so God willed it) 
they put themselves at my dis- 
posal. This has led me to ask 6 
Titus to complete the arrangements 
for the same gracious contribution 
among yourselves, as it was he who 
started it. Now then, you are to 7 
the front in everything, in faith, 
in utterance, in knowledge, in all 
zeal, and in love for us * — do come 
to the front in this gracious enter- 
prise as well. I am not issuing any 8 
orders, only using the zeal of others 
to prove how sterling your own 
love is. (You know how gracious 9 
our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich 
though he was, he became poor 
for the sake of you, that by his 
poverty you might be rich.) But 10 
I will tell you what I think about 
it; it is to your interest to go on 
with this enterprise, for you started 
it last year, you were the first not 
merely to do anything but to want 
to do anything. Now, carry it 11 
through, so that your readiness to 
take it up may be equalled by the 
way you carry it through — so far 
as your means allow. If only one 12 
is ready to give, according to his 
means, it is acceptable; he is not 
asked to give what he has not got. 
This does not mean that other 13 
people are to be relieved and you 
to suffer : it is a matter of give and 14 
take ; at the present moment your 
surplus goes to make up what they 

• Reading e| vixtav iv ti/mv with &< C D G, 
almost all the evidence of the Latin ftnd 
Syriao versions, etc. 



II. CORINTHIANS IX 



lack, in order that their surplus 
may go to make up what you lack. 

15 Thus it is to be give and take — as 
it is written, 

He who got much had nothing 

over^ 
and he who got little had not too 

little, 

16 Thanks be to God who has 
/^ inspired Titus with an interest in 

17 you equal to my own ; he has in- 
deed responded to my request, but 
he is off to you by his own choice, 

/ 18 so keen is his interest in you. Along 
with him I am sending that brother 
whose services to the gospel are 

19 praised by all the churches ; be- 
sides, he has been appointed by the 
churches to travel with me on the 
business of administering this fund 
to the glory of the Lord. His 
appointment has my full consent, 

20 for I want to take precautions 
against any risk of suspicion in 
connection mth the administration 

21 of this charity; I aim at being 
above reproach not only from God 

22 but also from men. Along with 
them I am also sending our brother : 
I have had ample proof of his keen 

V interest on many occasions, and it 
is specially keen on this occasion, 
as he has absolute confidence in 

23 you. Titus is my colleague, he 
shares my work for you, and these 
brothers of mine are apostles of 

24 the church, a credit to Christ. So 
let them have proof of how you can 
love, and of my reasons for being 
proud of you; it will be a proof 

9 read by the churches. Indeed 

it is quite superfluous for me to 
be writing to you about this charit- 

2 able service to the saints ; I know 
how willing you are, I am proud 
of it, I have boasted of you 
to the Macedonians : " Achaia," 
I tell them, " was all ready last 



year." And your zeal has been a 
stimulus to the majority of them. 
At the same time I am sending these 3 
brothers just in case my pride in 
you should prove an empty boast 
in this particular instance ; I want 
you to be " all ready," as I have 
been telling them that you would 
be, in case any Macedonians accom- 4 
pany me and find you are not ready 
— which would make me (not to 
speak of yourselves) ashamed of 
having been so sure. That is why 5 
I have thought it necessary to ask 
these brothers to go on in advance 
and get your promised contribu- 
tion ready in good time. I want 
it to be forthcoming as a generous 
gift, not as money wrung out of 
you. Mark this : he who sows 6 
sparingly will reap sparingly, and 
he who sows generously will reap 
a generous harvest. Everyone is 7 
to give what he has made up 
his mind to give; there is to be 
no grudging or compulsion about 
it, for God loves the giver who 
gives cheerfully. God is able to 8 
bless you with ample means, so 
that you may always have quite 
enough for any emergency of your 
own and ample besides for any 
kind act to others ; as it is written, 9 

He scatters his gifts to the 'poor 
broadcast, 

his charity lasts for ever. 
He who furnishes the sower with 10 
seed and with bread to eat will 
supply seed for you and multiply 
it ; he will increase the crop of your 
charities — you will be enriched on 11 
all hands, so that you can be 
generous on all occasions, and your 
generosity, of which I am the 
agent, will make men give thanks 
to God; for the service rendered 12 
by this fund does more than supply 
the wants of the saints, it overflows 

229 



X 



II. CORINTHIANS X, XI 



,' ( 



with many a cry of thanks to God. 

13 This service shows what you are, 
it makes men praise God for the 

, way you have come under the 
I gospel of Christ which you confess, 
and for the generosity of your con- 
tributions to themselves and to all ; 

14 they are drawn to you and pray 
for you, on account of the surpass- 
ing grace which God has shown to 

15 you. Thanks be to God for his 
unspeakable gift ! 

OHAF. 

10 I APPEAL to you myself by the 
gentleness and consideration of 
Christ — the Paul who is ' humble 
enough to your face when he is 
with you, but outspoken enough 

2 when he gets away from you.' I 
beg of you that when I do come I 

. may not have to speak out and be 
peremptory ; but my mind is made 
up to tackle certain people who 
have made up their minds that I 
move on the low level of the flesh. 

3 I do Hve in the flesh, but I do not 

4 make war as the flesh does ; the 
weapons of my warfare are not 
weapons of the flesh, but divinely 

5 strong to demolish fortresses — I 
demolish theories and any rampart 
thrown up to resist the knowledge 
of God, I take every project pris- 

6 oner to make it obey Christ, I 
am prepared to court-martial any- 
one who remains insubordinate, 
once your submission is complete. 

7 Look at this obvious fact. So- 
and-so is perfectly sure he ' be- 
longs to Christ'? Well then, let 
himunderstand,on second thoughts, 
that I * belong to Christ ' as much 

8 as he does. Even supposing I were 
to boast somewhat freely of my 
authority (and the Lord gave it 
to me for building you up, not 
for demolishing you), I would feel 

230 



quite justified. But I am not going 9 
to seem as if I were ' overawing 
you with a letter,' so to speak. 
My opponent says, ' Paul's letters 10 
are weighty and telling, but his 
personality is weak and his delivery 
is beneath contempt.' Let him 11 
understand that I will act when I 
arrive, as forcibly as I express my- 
self by letter when I am absent. 
I do not venture to class myself 12 
or to compare myself with certain ^ 
exalted individuals ! They belong 
to the class of self-praisers ; while 
I limit myself to my own sphere,* 
I compare myself with my own^ 
standard, and so my boasting never 13 
goes beyond the limit — it is deter- 
mined by the limits of the sphere 
marked out for me by God. That 
sphere stretches to include your- 
selves ; I am not overstepping the 14 
limit, as if you lay beyond my 
sphere; I was the very first to 
reach you with the gospel of Christ. 
I do not boast beyond my limits 15 
in a sphere where other men have 
done the work; my hope rather is 
that the growth of your faith will 
allow me to enlarge the range of 
my appointed sphere and preach 16 
the gospel in the lands that lie 
beyond you, instead of boasting 
within another's province over 
work that is already done. How- 17 
ever, let him who boasts boast of the 
Lord ; for it is not the self-praiser 18 
with his own recommendations 
who is accepted, it is the man whom 
the Lord recommends. 

OHAP. 

I WISH you would put up with 11 
a little ' folly ' from me. Do put 
up with me, for I feel a divine 2 
jealousy on your behalf; I be- 

* Omitting ov ffuviovatv • Ti/iels de with 
D*. etc. 



II. CORINTHIANS XI 



trothed you as a chaste maiden to 
present you to your one husband 

3 Christ, but I am afraid of j^our 
thoughts getting seduced from a 
single devotion to Christ, just as 
the serpent beguiled Eve with his 

4 cunning. You put up with it all 
right, when some interloper preaches 
a second Jesus (not the Jesus I 
preached), or when you are treated 
to a Spirit different from the Spirit 
you once received, and to a different 
gospel from what I gave you ! Why 

5 not put up with me ? I hold I 
am not one whit inferior to these 

6 precious ' apostles ' I I am no 
speaker, perhaps, but knowledge 
I do possess ; I never failed to make 
myself intelligible to you. 

7 But perhaps I did wrong in 
taking a humble place that you 
might have a high one — I mean, 
in preaching the gospel of God to 

8 you for nothing ! I made a levy 
on other churches, I took pay from 

9 them so as to minister to you ; even 
when I ran short, during my stay 
with you, I was no encumbrance 
to anybody, for the brothers who 
came from Macedonia supplied my 
wants. Thus I kept myself, as I 
intend to keep myself, from being 

10 a burden to you in any way. By 
the truth of Christ within me, I am 
going to make this my pride and 
boast unchecked throughout the 

11 regions of Achaia ! Why ? Because 
I do not love you? God knows I 

12 do. No, I intend to go on as I am 
doing, in order to checkmate those 
who would fain make out that 
in the apostolate of which they 
boast they work on the same terms 

13 as I do. ' Apostles ' ? They are 
spurious apostles, false workmen — 
thev are masquerading as ' apostles 

14 of Christ.' No wonder they do, for 
Satan himself masquerades as an 



angel of light. So it is no surprise 15 
if his ministers also masquerade 
as ministers of righteousness. Their 
doom will answer to their deeds. 

I repeat, no one is to think me a 16 
fool; but even so, pray bear with 
me, fool as I am, that I may have 
my little boast as well as others ! 
(What I am now going to say is not 17 
inspired by the Lord : I am in the 
role of a ' fool,' now, on this busi- 
ness of boasting. Since many boast 18 
on the score of the flesh, I will do 
the same.) You put up with fools 19 
so readily, you who know so much ! 
You put up with a man who 20 
assumes control of your souls, with 
a man who spends your money, 
with a man who dupes you, with 
a man who gives himself airs, with 
a man who flies in your face. 
I am quite ashamed to say I was 21 
not equal to that sort of thing I 
But let them vaunt as they please, 
I am equal to them (mind, this is 
the role of a fool !). Are they 22 
Hebrews ? so am I. Israelites ? 
so am I. Descended from Abra- 
ham ? so am I. Ministers of 23 
Christ? yes perhaps, but not as 
much as I am (I am mad to talk 
like this !), with all my labours, 
with all my lashes, with all my 
time in prison — a record longer 
far than theirs. I have been often 
at the point of death ; five times 24 
have I got forty lashes (all but one) 
from the Jews, three times I have 25 
been beaten by the Romans, once 
pelted with stones, three times ship- 
wrecked, adrift at sea for a whole 
night and day ; I have been often on 26 
my travels, I have been in danger 
from rivers and robbers, in danger 
from Jews and Gentiles, through dan- 
gers of town and of desert, through 
dangers on the sea, through dangers 
among false brothers — through 27 

231 



II. CORINTHIANS XII 



labour and hardship, through many 
a sleepless night, through hunger 
and thirst, starving many a time, 
cold and ill-clad, and all the rest 

28 of it. And then there is the press- 
ing business of each day, the care 

29 of all the churches. Who is weak, 
and I do not feel his weakness ? 
Whose faith is hurt, and I am not 

30 aglow with indignation ? If there 
is to be any boasting, I will boast 
of what I am weak enough to 

31 suffer I The God and Father of the 
Lord Jesus, He who is blessed for 
ever, He knows I am telling the 

32 truth I (At Damascus the ethnarch 
of king Aretas had patrols out in 
the city of the Damascenes to 
arrest me, but I was lowered in a 
basket from a loophole in the wall, 
and so managed to escape his 

12 clutches.) There is nothing to be 
gained by this sort of thing, but as 
I am obhged to boast, I will go on to 
visions and revelations of the Lord. 

2 I know a man in Christ who 
fourteen years ago was caught up 
to the third heaven. In the body 
or out of the body ? That I do not 

3 know : God knows. I simply know 
that in the body or out of the body 

4 (God knows which) this man was 
caught up to paradise and heard 
sacred secrets which no human lips 

5 can repeat. Of an experience like 
that I am prepared to boast, but 
not of myself personally — not ex- 
cept as regards my weaknesses. 

6 (If I did care to boast of other 
things I would be no ' fool,' for I 
would have a true tale to tell; 
however, I abstain from that — 
I want no one to take me for more 
than he can see in me or make out 

7 from me.) My wealth of visions 
might have puffed me up, so I was 
given a thorn in the flesh, an angel 
of Satan to rack me and keep me 

£.22 



from being puffed up ; three times 8 
over I prayed the Lord to make it 
leave me, but he told me, " It is 9 
enough for you to have my grace : 
it is in weakness that [my] power 
is fully felt." So I am proud to 
boast of all my weakness, and thus 
to have the power of Christ resting 
on my life. It makes me satisfied, 10 
for Christ's sake, with weakness, 
insults, trouble, persecution, and 
calamity ; for I am strong just when] 
I am weak. 

Now this is playing the fool ! 11 
But you forced me to it, instead 
of coming forward yourselves and 
vouching for me. That was what 
I deserved ; for, ' nobody ' as I am, 
I am not one whit inferior to these 
precious ' apostles.' You had all 12 
the miracles that mark an apostle 
done for you fully and patiently — 
miracles, wonders, and deeds of 
power. Where were you inferior 13 
to the rest of the churches ? — unless 
in this, that your apostle did not 
choose to make himself a burden 
to you. Pray pardon me this 
terrible wrong ! 

Here am I all ready to pa}^ you 14 
my third visit. And I will not 
be a burden to you; I want your- 
selves and not your money. Chil- 
dren have not to put money by for 
their parents ; that is what parents 
do for their children. And for your 15 
souls I will gladly spend my all and 
be spent myself. Am I to be loved 
the less because I love you more 
than others ? 

But let that pass, you say; I was 16 
not a burden to you^ no, but I was 
clever enough to dupe you with 
my tricks ? Was I ? Did I make 17 
something out of you by any of my 
messengers? I asked Titus to go, 18 
and with him I sent our brother. 
Titus did not make anything out of 



II. CORINTHIANS XIII 



you, did he? And did not I act 

in the same spirit as he did? Did 
I not take the very same steps ? 

19 You tliink all this time I am 
defending myself to you? No, I 
am speaking in Christ before the 
presence of God, and speaking 
every word, beloved, in order to 

20 build you up. For I am afraid 
T may perhaps come and find you 
are not what I could wish, while 
you msLy find I am not what you 
could wish; I am afraid of finding 
quarrels, jealousy, temper, rivalry, 
slanders, gossiping, arrogance, and 

21 disorder — afraid that when I come 
back to you, my God may humiliate 

, me before you, and I may have to 
" mourn for many who sinned some 
time ago and yet have never re- 
pented of the impurity, the sexual 
vice, and the sensuality which they 
have practised. 
13 This will be my third visit to 
you : every case is to be decided on 
the evidence of two or of three wit- 

2 nesses, I warned you already, on 
my second visit, and I warn you 
now before I come, both you who 
sinned some time ago and the rest of 
you as well, that I will spare no one 

3 if I come back. That will prove to 
you that I am indeed a spokesman 
of Christ. It is no weak Christ 
you have to do with, but a Christ 

4 of power. For though he v/as 
crucified in his weakness, he lives 



9 



by the power of God ; and though 
I am weak as he was weak, you will 
find I am alive as he is alive by the 
power of God. Put yourselves 
to the proof, not me; test your- 
selves, to see if you are in the 
faith. Do you not understand 
that Jesus Christ is within you? 
Otherwise you must be failures. 
But I trust you will find I am no 
failure, and I pray to God that you 
may not go wrong — not to prove 
I am a success, that is not the 
point, but that you should come 
right, even if I seemed to be a 
failure. (Fail or succeed, I cannot 
work against the truth but for 
it !) I am glad to be weak if you 
are strong; mend your ways, that 
is all I ask. I am writing thus to 10 
you in absence, so that when I do 
come I may not have to deal 
sharply with you; I have the 
Lord's authority for that, but he 
gave it to me for building you up, 
not for demolishing you. 

Now brothers, goodbye; mend 11 
your ways, listen to what I have 
told you, live in harmony, keep the 
peace; then the God of love and 
peace will be with you. 

Salute one another with a holy 12 
kiss. All the saints salute you. 13 

,The grace of the Lord Jesus 14 
Christ and the love of God and the 
fellowship of the holy Spirit be 
with you all. 



2S3 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE 



GALATIANS 



OHAf. 

1 Paul an apostle — not appointed 
by men nor commissioned by any 
man but by Jesus Christ and God 
the Father who raised him from 

2 the dead, — with all the brothers 
who are beside me, to the churches 

3 of Galatia ; grace and peace to you 
from God our Father and the Lord 

4 Jesus Christ who gave himself for 
our sins to rescue us from the 
present evil world — by the will of 

6 our God and Father, to whom be 
glory for ever and ever : Amen. 

6 I am astonished you are hastily 
shifting like this, deserting Him 
who called you by his grace and 

7 going over to another gospel. It 
simply means that certain indi- 
viduals are unsettling you; they 
want to distort the gospel of 

8 Christ. Now even though it were 
myself or some angel from heaven, 
whoever preaches a gospel that 
contradicts the gospel I preached 

9 to you, God's curse be on him ! I 
have said it before and I now repeat 
it: whoever preaches a gospel to 
you that contradicts the gospel you 
have already received, God's curse 
be on him ! 

10 Now is that ' appealing to the 
interests of men ' or of God ? 
Trying to * satisfy men ' ? Why, if 
I still tried to give satisfaction to 
human masters, I would be no 

11 servant of Christ. No, brothers, 
I tell you the gospel that I preach 

12 is not a human affair; no man put 
it into my hands, no man taught 

234 



me what it meant, I had it by a 
revelation of Jesus Christ. You 13 
know the story of my past career 
in Judaism; you know how furi- 
ously I persecuted the church of God 
and harried it, and how I outstripped 14 
many of my own age and race in 
my special ardour for the ancestral 
traditions of my house. But the 15 
God who had set me apart from 
my very hirth called me by his 
grace, and when he chose to reveal 16 
his Son to me, that I might preach 
him to the Gentiles, instead of 
consulting with any human being, 
instead of going up to Jerusalem 17 
to see those who had been apostles 
before me, I went off at once to 
Arabia, and on my return I came 
back to Damascus. Then, after 18 
three years, I w^ent up to Jeru- 
salem to make the acquaintance of 
Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with 
him. I saw no other apostle, only 19 
James the brother of the Lord. 
(I am writing you the sheer truth, 20 
I swear it before God!) Then 121 
went to the districts of Syria and 
of Cilicia. Personally I was quite 22 
unknown to the Christian churches 
of Judaea ; they merely heard that 23 
' our former persecutor is now 
preaching the faith he once harried,' 
which made them praise God for 24 
me. Then, fourteen years later, I 2 
went up to Jerusalem again, accom- 
panied by Barnabas ; I took Titus 
with me also. (Itwas in consequence 2 
of a revelation that I went up at 



GALATIANS III 



all.) I submitted the gospel I am 
in the habit of preaching to the 
Gentiles, submitting it privately 
to the authorities, to make sure 
that my course of action would be 

3 and had been sound. But even 
my companion Titus, Greek though 
he was, was not obliged to be cir- 

4 cumcised. There were traitors of 
false brothers, who had crept in 
to spy out the freedom we enjoy 
in Christ Jesus; they did aim at 

5 enslaving us again. But we re- 
fused to yield for a single instant 
to their claims ; we were deter- 
mined that the truth of the gospel 

6 should hold good for you. Besides, 
the so-called * authorities ' (it makes 
no difference to me what their 
status used to be — God pays no 
regard to the externals of men), 
these ' authorities ' had no addi- 

7 tions to make to my gospel. On 
the contrary, when they saw I had 
been entrusted with the gospel for 
the benefit of the uncircumcised, 
just as Peter had been for the 

8 circumcised (for He who equipped 
Peter to be an apostle of the cir- 
cumcised equipped me as well for 
the uncircumcised), and when they 
recognized the grace I had been 

9 given, then the so-called * pillars ' 
of the church, James and Cephas 
and John, gave myself and Barna- 
bas the right hand of fellowship. 
Our sphere was to be the Gentiles, 

10 theirs the circumcised. Only, we 
were to ' remember the poor. ' I was 
quite eager to do that myself. 

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, 
I opposed him to his face. The 

12 man stood self-condemned. Be- 
fore certain emissaries of James 
arrived, he ate along with the 
Gentile Christians ; but when they 
arrived, he began to draw back and 
hold aloof, because he was afraid 



of the circumcision party. The 13 
rest of the Jewish Christians also 
played false along with him, so 
much so that even Barnabas was 
carried away by their false play. 
But I saw they were swerving from 14 
the true line of the gospel ; so I said 
to Cephas in presence of them all, 
" If you live like the Gentiles and 
not like the Jews, though you are 
a Jew yourself, why do you oblige 
the Gentiles to become Jews ? " 
— We may be Jews by birth and 15 
not ' Gentile sinners,' but since we 16 
know a man is justified simply by 
faith in Jesus Christ and not by 
doing what the Law commands, 
we ourselves have believed in Christ 
Jesus so as to get justified by faith 
in Christ and not by doing what the 
Law commands — for by doing what 
the law commands no person shall 
he justified. If it is discovered that 17 
in our quest for justification in 
Christ we are ' sinners ' as well 
as the Gentiles, does that make 
Christ an agent of sin ? Never ! I 18 
really convict myself of transgres- 
sion when I rebuild what I de- 
stroyed. For through the Law I 19 
died to the Law that I might live 
for God ; I have been crucified 20 
with Christ, and it is no longer I 
who live, Christ lives in me; the 
life I now live in the flesh I live 
by faith in the Son of God who 
loved me and gave himself up for 
me. I do not annul God's grace; 21 
but if righteousness comes by way 
of the Law, then indeed Christ's 
death was useless. 



O SENSELESS Galatiaus, who has 3 
bewitched you — you who had Jesus 
Christ the crucified placarded before 
your very eyes? I simply want 2 
to ask you one thing: did you 

236 



GALATIANS III 



receive the Spirit by doing what 

the Law commands or by believing 

3 the gospel message ? Are you such 
fools? Did you begin with the 
Spirit only to end now with the 

4 flesh? Have you had all that 
experience for nothing (if it has 

* 5 really gone for nothing) ? When 
He supplies you with the Spirit 
and works miracles among you, 
is it because you do what the 
Law commands or because you 

6 believe the gospel message ? Why, 
it is as with Abraham, he had 
faith in God and that was counted 

7 to him as righteousness. Well then, 
you see that the real sons of 
Abraham are those who rely on 

8 faith. Besides, Scripture antici- 
pated God's justification of the 
Gentiles by faith when it an- 
nounced the gospel beforehand to 
Abraham in these terms : All 
nations shall be blessed in thee, 

9 So that those who rely on faith are 
blessed along with believing Abra- 

10 ham. Whereas a curse rests on all 
who rely upon obedience to the Law ; 
for it is written, Cursed is everyone 
who does not hold by all that is 
written in the book of the law, to 

11 perform it. And because no one 
is justified on the score of the Law 
before God (plainly, the just shall 

12 live by faith, — and the Law is not 
based on faith : no, he who per- 
forms these things shall live by them), 

13 Christ ransomed us from the curse 
of the Law by becoming accursed 
for us (for it is written. Cursed is 

14 everyone who hangs on a gibbet), that 
the blessing of Abraham might 
reach the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, 
so that by faith we might receive 
the promised Spirit. 

15 To take an illustration from 
human life, my brothers. Once a 
man's will is ratified, no one else 

236 



annuls it or adds a codicil to it. 

Now the Promises were made to 16 
Abraham and to his offspring ; it 
is not said, ' and to your offsprings ' 
in the plural, but in the singular 
and to your offspring — which is 
Christ. My point is this : the Law 17 
which arose four hundred and thirty 
years later does not repeal a will 
previously ratified by God, so as 
to cancel the Promise. If the 18 
Inheritance is due to law, it ceases 
to be due to promise. Now it was 
by a promise that God bestowed 
it on Abraham. Then what about 19 
the Law? Well, it was inter- 
polated for the purpose of pro- 
ducing transgressions till such time 
as the Offspring arrived to whom 
the Promise was made; also, it 
was transmitted by means of angels 
through the agency of an inter- 
mediary (an intermediary implies 20 
more than one party, but God is 
one). Then the Law is contrary 21 
to God's Promises ? Never ! Had 
there been any law which had the 
power of producing life, righteous- 
ness would really have been due to 
law, but Scripture has consigned 22 
all without exception to the 
custody of sin, in order that the 
promise due to faith in Jesus Christ 
might be given to those who have 
faith. Before this faith came, we 23 
were confined by the Law and kept 
in custody, with the prospect of 
the faith that was to be revealed; 
the Law thus held us as wards in 24 
discipline, till such time as Christ 
came, that we might be justified 
hy faith. But faith has come, and 25 
we are wards no longer ; you are 26 
all sons of God by your faith in 
Christ Jesus (for all of you who 27 
had yourselves baptized into Christ 
have taken on the character of 
Christ). There is no room for Jew 28 



GALATIANS IV 



or Greek, there is no room for 
slave or freeman, there is no room 
for male and female; you are all 
29 one in Christ Jesus. Now if 
you are Christ's, then you are 
Abraham's offspring; in virtue of 
4 the Promise you are heirs. What 
I mean is this. As long as an 
heir is under age, there is no 
difference between him and a 
servant, though he is lord of all the 

2 property; he is under guardians 
and trustees till the time fixed by 

3 his father. So with us. When we 
were under age, we lived under 
the thraldom of the Elemental 

4 spirits of the world ; but when the 
time had fully expired, God sent 
forth his Son, born of a woman, 

5 born under the Law, to ransom 
those who were under the Law, that 

6 we might get our sonship. It is 
because you are sons that God has 
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into 
your hearts crying * Abba ! Father ! ' 

7 So you are servant no longer but 
son, and as son you are also heir, 
all owing to God. 

8 In those days, when you were 
ignorant of God, you were in 
servitude to gods who are really 

9 no gods at all ; but now that you 
know God — or rather, are known 
by God — how is it you are turning 
back again to the weakness and 
poverty of the Elemental spirits? 
Why do you want to be enslaved 

10 all over again by them ? You 
observe days and months and festal 

11 seasons and years ! Why, you 
make me afraid I may have spent 
my labour on you for nothing ! 

12 Do take my line, brothers, I beg of 
you — ^just as I once took yours. 
I have no complaint against you; 

13 no, although it was because of an 
illness (you know) that I preached 
the gospel to you on my former 



visit, and though my flesh was a 14 
trial to you, you did not scoff at 
me nor spurn me, you welcomed 
me like an angel of God, like Christ 
Jesus. You congratulated your- 15 
selves. Now, what has become of 
all that ? (I can bear witness that 
you would have torn out your very 
eyes, if you could, and given me 
them.) Am I your enemy to-day, 16 
because I have been honest with 
you ? These men make much of 17 
you — yes, but for dishonest ends; 
they want to debar you from us, 
so that you may make much of 
them. Now it is fine for you to 18 
be made much of honestly and all 
the time — not simply when I can 
be with you. O my dear children, 19 
you with whom I am in travail 
over again till Christ be formed 
within you, would that I could be 20 
with you at this moment, and alter 
my tone, for I am at my wits' end 
about you ! Tell me, you who 21 
are keen to be under the Law, will 
you not listen to the Law ? Surely 22 
it is written in the Law that 
Abraham had two sons, one by 
the slave-woman and one by the 
free-woman ; but while the son of 23 
the slave-woman was born by the 
flesh, the son of the free- woman was 
born by the promise. Now this 24 
is an allegory. The women are 
two covenants. One comes from 
mount Sinai, bearing children 
for servitude ; that is Hagar, for 25 
mount Sinai * is away in Arabia. 
She corresponds to the present 
Jerusalem, for the latter is in servi- 
tude with her children. But the 26 
Jerusalem on high is free, and 
she is ' our * mother. For it is 27 
written, 

♦ Omitting "hyap as a gloss, with the 
Latin, Sahidic, and Ethiopia versions, 
K C G, Oiigen, and many others. 

237 



GALATIANS V 



Rejoice, O thou barren who hearest 

not, 
break into joy, thou who 

travailest not ; 
for the children of the desolate 

woman are far more than of 

the married, 

28 Now you are the children of 

29 the Promise, brothers, Hke Isaac ; 
but just as in the old days the son 
born by the flesh persecuted the 
son born by the Spirit, so it is still 

30 to-day. However, what does the 
scripture say ? Put away the slave- 
woman and her son, for the son of 
the slave-woman shall not he heir 
along with the son of the free- 

31 woman. Hence we are children 
of no slave-woman, my brothers, 

5 but of the free- woman,* with the 
freedom for which Christ set us 
free. Make a firm stand then, 
do not slip into any yoke of 
servitude. 

2 Here, listen to Paul I I tell you, 
if you get circumcised, Christ will 

3 be no use to you. I insist on this 
again to everyone who gets cir- 
cumcised, that he is obliged to 
carry out the whole of the Law. 

4 You are for justification by the 
Law? Then you are done with 
Christ, you have deserted grace, 

5 for it is by faith that ' we ' wait 
in the Spirit for the righteousness 

6 we hope for; in Christ Jesus cir- 
cumcision is not valid, neither is un- 
circumcision, but only faith active 

♦ Whether ^ ia read after t^ i\ev9epia. 
or instead of Vfj, the opening' words of 
6^ must be connected with the closing 
words of 4^^. I think on the whole that 
this interpretation of the text, which 
is advocated by modern editors like 
Lightfoot and Zahn, has the best claim 
to be regarded as authentic ; it goes back 
to Maxcion and has the powerfiil support 
of the Latin version, of G, of Origen, 
Ambrosiaster, Jerome, and others. 



in love. You were doing splen- 7 
didly. Who was it that prevented 
you from obeying the Truth? 
That sort of suasion does not come 8 
from Him who called you ! (A 9 
morsel of leaven will leaven the 
whole lump.) I feel persuaded 10 
in the Lord that you will not go 
wrong. But he who unsettles you 
will have to meet his doom, no 
matter who he is. I am ' still 11 
preaching circumcision myself,' am 
I ? Then, brothers, why am I still 
being persecuted? And so the 
stumbling-block of the cross has 
lost its force, forsooth ! O that 12 
those who are upsetting you would 
get themselves castrated ! 

Brothers, you were called to be 13 
free ; only, do not make your free- 
dom an opening for the flesh, but 
serve one another in love. For 14 
the entire Law is summed up in one 
word, in You must love your neigh- 
bour as yourself (whereas, if you 15 
snap at each other and prey upon 
each other, take care in case you 
destroy one another). I mean, 16 
lead the life of the Spirit ; then you 
will never satisfy the passions of 
the flesh. For the passion of the 17 
flesh is against the Spirit, and 
the passion of the Spirit against the 
flesh — the two are at issue, so that 
you are not free to do as you please. 
If you are under the sway of the 18 
Spirit, you are not under the Law. 
Now the deeds of the flesh are quite 19 
obvious, such as sexual vice, im- 
purity, sensuality, idolatry, magic, 20 
quarrels, dissension, jealousy, tem- 
per, rivalry, factions, party-spirit, 
envy, [murder], drinking bouts, 21 
revelry, and the like; I tell you 
beforehand as I have told you 
already, that people who indulge in 
such practices will never inherit the 
Realm of God. But the harvest 22 



GALATIANS VI 



of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
good temper, kindliness, generosity, 

23 fidelity, gentleness, self-control : — 
there is no law against those 

24 who practice such things. Now 
those who belong to Christ* have 
crucified the flesh with its emotions 

25 and passions. As we live by the 
Spirit, let us be guided by the 

26 Spirit; let us have no vanity, no 
provoking, no envy of one another. 

6 Even if anyone is detected in 
some trespass, brothers, you are 
spiritual, you must set the offender 
right in a spirit of gentleness; let 
each of you look to himself, in case 

2 he too is tempted. Bear one 
another's burdens, and so fulfil the 

3 law of Christ. If anyone imagines 
he is somebody, he is deceiving 

4 himself, for he is nobody; let 
everyone bring his own work to the 
test — ^then he will have something 
to boast about on his own account, 
and not in comparison with his 

5 fellows. For everyone will have to 
bear his own load of responsibility. 

6 Those who are taught must share 
all the blessings of life with those 

7 who teach them the Word. Make 
no mistake — God is not to be 
mocked — a man will reap just 

8 what he sows; he who sows for 
his flesh will reap destruction from 
the flesh, and he who sows for the 

♦ Omitting *l7i(rov with D G, the Latin, 
Gothic, and Armenian versions, Marcion, 
Chrysostom, and others. 



Spirit will reap life eternal from 
the Spirit. Never let us grow tired 9 
of doing what is right, for if we do 
not faint we will reap our harvest 
at the opportune season. So then, 10 
as we have opportunity, let us do 
good to all men and in particular 
to the household of the faith. 

See what big letters I make 11 
when I write you in my own 
hand I 

These men who are keen upon 12 
you getting circumcised are just 
men who want to make a grand 
display in the flesh — ^it is simply to 
avoid being persecuted for the cross 
of Christ. Why, even the circum- 13 
cision party do not observe the Law 
themselves ! They merely want 
you to get circumcised, so as to 
boast over your flesh ! But no 14 
boasting for me, none except in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by which the world has been cruci- 
fied to me and I crucified to the 
world. For what counts is neither 15 
circumcision nor uncircumcision, 
it is the new creation. On all who 16 
will be guided by this rule may 
peace and mercy rest, even upon 
the Israel of God. 

Let no one interfere with me 17 
after this, for I bear branded on 
my body the owner's stamp of 
Jesus. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus 18 
Christ be with your Spirit, brothers. 
Amen. 



239 



THE EPISTLK OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 

EPHESIANS 



1 Paul, by the will of God an 
apostle of Christ Jesus, to the 
saints who are faithful * in Christ 

2 Jesus ; grace and peace to you 
from God our Father and the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ who in 
Christ has blessed us with every 

4s spiritual blessing ! He chose us 
in him ere the world was founded, 
to be consecrated and unblemished 

5 in his sight, destining us in love to 
be his sons through Jesus Christ. 

6 Such was the purpose of his will, 
redounding to the praise of his 
glorious grace bestowed on us in 

7 the Beloved, in whom we enjoy our 
redemption, the forgiveness of our 
trespasses, by the blood he shed. 

8 So richly has God lavished his grace 

9 upon us ! He has granted us com- 
plete insight and understanding of 
the open secret of his will, showing 
us how it was the purpose of his 

10 design so to order it in the fulness of 
the ages that all things in heaven 
and earth alike should be gathered 

11 up in Christ — ^in the Christ in whom 
w^e have had our heritage allotted 
us (as was decreed in the design 
of him who carries out everything 
according to the counsel of his 

12 will), to make us redound to the 
praise of his glory by being the 
first to put our hope in Christ. 

13 You also have heard the message 
of the truth, the gospel of your 
salvation, and in him you also by 

* Omitting [iy 'E^eVy]. 
240 



your faith have been stamped wit 
the seal of the long-promised hoi} 
Spirit which is the pledge and instal- 14 
ment of our common heritage, that 
we may obtain our divine posses- 
sion and so redound to the praise 
of his glory. 

Hence, as I have heard of your 15 
faith in the Lord Jesus and your 
love for all the saints, I never cease 16 
to give thanks for you, when I 
mention you in my prayers. May 17 
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the glorious Father, grant you the 
Spirit of wisdom and revelation ^ 
for the knowledge of himself, ' 
illuminating the eyes of your heart 18 
so that you can understand the 
hope to which He calls us, the 
wealth of his glorious heritage in 
the saints, and the surpassing 19 
greatness of his power over us 
believers — a power which operates 
with the strength of the might 
which he exerted in raising Christ 20 
from the dead and seating him at 
his right hand in the heavenly 
sphere, above all the angelic Rulers, 21 
Authorities, Powers, and Lords, 
above every Name that is to be 
named not only in this age but in 
the age to come — he has put every- 22 
thing under his feet and set him 
as head over everything for the 
church, the church which is his 23 
Body, filled by him who fills the 
universe entirely. And as with us 2 
so with you. You were dead in 
the trespasses and sins in which you 2 
moved as you followed the course 



EPHESIANS III 



of this world, under the sway of the 
prince of the air — the spirit which is 
at present active within those sons 

3 of disobedience among whom all 
of us lived, we as well as you, when 
we obeyed the passions of our flesh, 
carrying out the dictates of the 
flesh and its impulses, when we 
were objects of God's anger by 

4 nature like the rest of men. But, 
dead in trespasses as we were, God 
was so rich in mercy that for his 

5 great love to us he made us live 
together with Christ (it is by grace 

6 you have been saved) ; together 
with Christ he raised and seated 
us \\'ithin the heavenly sphere in 

7 Christ Jesus, to display throughout 
ages to come his surpassing wealth 
of grace and goodness toward us in 

8 Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you 
have been saved, as you had faith ; 
it is not your doing but God's gift, 

9 not the outcome of what you have 
done — lest anyone should pride 

10 himself on that ; God has made us 
what we are, creating us in Christ 
Jesus for the good deeds which 
are prepared beforehand by God 
as our sphere of action. 

11 Remember then that once upon a 
time you Gentiles in the flesh, who 
are called 'the Uncircumcision ' 
by that so-called 'Circumcision' 
which is itself the product of 
human hands in the flesh — re- 

12 member you were in those days 
outside Christ, aliens to the com- 
monwealth of Israel, and strangers 
to the covenants of the Promise, 
devoid of hope and God within 

13 the world. Whereas now, within 
Christ Jesus, you who once were 
far away have been brought near 

14 by the blood of Christ. For he is 
our peace, he who has made both 
of us a unity and destroyed the 

15 barrier which kept us apart; in 



his own flesh he put an end to the 
feud of the Law with its code of 
commands, so as to make peace by 
the creation of a new Man in him- 
self out of both parties, so as him- 16 
self to give the death-blow to that 
feud by reconciling them both to 
God in one Body through the cross ; 
he came with a gospel of peace for 17 
those far away (that is, for 5''ou) and 
for those who were near, for it is 18 
through him that we both enjoy 
our access to the Father in one 
Spirit. Thus you are strangers 19 
and foreigners no longer, you share 
the membership of the saints, you 
belong to God's own household, 
you are a building that rests on 20 
the apostles and prophets as its 
foundation, with Christ Jesus as 
the cornerstone ; in him the whole 21 
structure is welded together and 
rises into a sacred temple in the 
Lord, and in him you are yourselves 
built into this to form a habitation 
for God in the Spirit. 

OHAF. 

For this reason I Paul, I whom 3 
Jesus has made a prisoner for the 
sake of you Gentiles — for surely 2 
you have heard how the grace of 
God which was vouchsafed me in 
your interests has ordered it, how 3 
the divine secret was disclosed to 
me by a revelation (if you read 
what I have already written briefly 
about this, you can understand 4 
my insight into that secret of Christ 
which was not disclosed to the 6 
sons of men in other generations 
as it has now been revealed to his 
sacred apostles and prophets by 
the Spirit), namely, that in Christ 6 
Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, 
companions, and co-partners in 
the * Promise. Such is the gospel 
• Omitting [outoC]. 

241 



EPHESIANS IV 



7 which I was called to serve by the 
endowment of God's grace which 
was vouchsafed me, by the energy 

8 of his power ; less than the least of 
all saints as I am, this grace was 
vouchsafed me, that I should bring 
the Gentiles the gospel of the 

9 fathomless wealth of Christ and 
enlighten all men upon the new 
order of that divine secret which 
God the Creator of all concealed 

10 from eternity — ^intending to let the 
full sweep of the divine wisdom be 
disclosed now by the church to the 
angelic Rulers and Authorities in 

11 the heavenly sphere, in terms of 
the eternal purpose which he has 
realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 

12 through whom, as we have faith in 
him, we enjoy our confidence of free 
access. 

13 So I beg of you not to lose heart 
over what I am suffering on your 
behalf ; my sufferings are an honour 
to you. 

14 For this reason then I kneel before 

15 the Father from whom every family 
in heaven and on earth derives its 

16 name and nature, praying Him out 
of the wealth of his glory to grant 
you a mighty increase of strength 
by his Spirit in the inner man. 

17 May Christ dwell in your hearts as 
you have faith ! May you be so 

18 fixed and founded in love that you 
can grasp vdth all the saints what 
is the meaning of * the Breadth,' 
' the Length,' * the Depth,' and 

19 * the Height,' by knowing the love 
of Christ which surpasses all know- 
ledge ! May you be filled with the 

20 entire fulness of God ! Now to 
him who by the action of his power 
within us can do all things, aye far 
more than we ever ask or imagine, 

21 to him be glory in the church and 
in Christ Jesus throughout all gene- 
rations for ever and ever : Amen. 

242 



As the Lord's prisoner, then, I 4 
beg of you to live a life worthy of 
your calling, with perfect modesty 2 
and gentleness, showing forbear- 
ance to one another patiently, 
zealous in love to preserve the 3 
unity of the Spirit by binding 
peace upon yourselves. For there 4 
is one Body and one Spirit — as you 
were called for the one hope that 
belongs to your call — one Lord, one 5 
faith, one baptism, one God and 6 
Father of all, who is over us all, 
who pervades us all, who is within 
us all. But each one of us is 7 
granted his own grace as deter- 
mined by the full measure of 
Christ's gift. Thus it is said, 8 

When he ascended on high he led 
a host captive 

and granted gifts to men. 

What does he ascended mean ex- 9 
cept that he first descended to the 
nether regions of the earth? He 10 
who descended is he who ascended 
above all the heavens to fill the 
universe; he granted some men to 11 
be apostles, some to be prophets, 
some to be evangelists, some to 
shepherd and teach, for the equip- 12 
ment of the saints, for the business 
of the ministry, for the upbuilding 
of the Body of Christ, till we should 13 
all attain the unity of the faith and 
knowledge of God's Son, reaching 
maturity, reaching the full measure 
of development which belongs to 
the fulness of Christ — instead of 14 
remaining immature, blown from 
our course and swayed by every 
passing wind of doctrine, by the 
adroitness of men who are dexterous 
in devising error; we are to hold 15 
by the truth, and by our love to 
grow up wholly into Him. For He, 
Christ, is the head ani under h'm, 16 
as the entire Body is welded to- 



EPHESIANS V 



gether and compacted by every joint 
with which it is suppHed, the due act- 
ivity of each part enables the Body 
to grow and build itself up in love. 

17 Now in the Lord I insist and 
protest that you must give up 
living like pagans; for their pur- 

18 poses are futile, their intelligence 
is darkened, they are estranged from 
the hfe of God by the ignorance 
which their dulness of heart has 

19 produced in them — men who have 
recklessly * abandoned themselves 
to sensuality, with a lust for the 
business of impurity in every shape 

20 and form. That is not how you 
have understood the meaning of 

21 Christ (for it is Christ whom you 
have been taught, it is in Christ 
that you have been instructed — 
the real Christ who is in Jesus); 

22 you must lay aside the old nature 
which belonged to your former 
course of life, that nature which 
crumbles to ruin under the passions 

23 of moral deceit, and be renewed in 

24 the spirit of your mind, putting on 
the new nature, that divine pattern 
which has been created in the up- 
right and pious character of the 

25 Truth. Lay aside falsehood, then, 
let each tell his neighbour the truth, 
for we are members one of another. 

26 Be angry but do not sin ; never let 
the sun set upon your exaspera- 

27 tion, give the devil no chance. Let 

28 the thief steal no more ; rather let 
him work and put his hands to an 
honest task, so as to have some- 
thing to contribute to the needy. 

29 Let no bad word pass your lips, 
but only such speech as is good for 
edification, as occasion may require, 
words that are gracious and a 
means of grace to those who hear 

♦ Reading airriXTriKSTes with D G, the 
Latin version, the Syriao Vulgate, 
Irenaeus, Victorious, eto. 



them. And do not vex God's holy 80 
Spirit, by whom you have been 
sealed for the day of redemption. 
Drop all bitter feeling and passion 31 
and anger and clamouring and 
insults, together with all malice; 
be kind to each other, be tender- 82 
hearted, be generous to each other 
as God has been generous to you in 
Christ. Copy God, then, as his be- 5 
loved children, and lead lives of love, 2 
just as Christ loved you and gave 
himself up for you to be a fragrant 
offering and sacrifice to God. 
Never let any sexual vice or 8 
impurity or lust be so much as 
mentioned by you — that is the 
proper course for saints to take; 
no, nor indecent, silly, or scurrilous 4 
talk — all that is improper. Rather, 
voice your thanks to God. Be 5 
sure of this, that no one guilty 
of sexual vice or impurity or lust 
(that is, an idolater) possesses any 
inheritance in the realm of Christ 
and God. Let no one deceive you 6 
with specious arguments; these 
are the vices that bring down God's 
anger on the sons of disobedience. 
So avoid the company of such men. 7 
For while once upon a time you 8 
were darkness, now in the Lord you 
are light ; lead the life of those who 
are children of the light (for the 9 
fruit of light consists in all that is 
good and right and true), verifying 10 
what pleases the Lord. Have no- 11 
thing to do with the fruitless enter- 
prises of the darkness ; rather expose 
them. One is indeed ashamed even 12 
to speak about what such men do 
in secret ; still, whatever the light 13 
exposes becomes illuminated — for 
anything that is illuminated turns 
into hght. Thus it is said, 14 

' Wake up, O sleeper, and rise 
from the dead ; 
so Christ will shine upon you.' 

.248 



EPHESIANS VI 



15 Be strictly* careful then about 
the life you lead ; act like sensible 

16 men, not like thoughtless ; make 
the very most of your time, for 

17 these are evil days. So do not be 
senseless, but understand what is 

18 the Lord's will ; and do not get 
drunk with wine — ^that means pro- 
fligacy — but be filled with the 

19 Spirit, converse with one another 
in the music of psalms, in hymns, 
and in songs of the spiritual life, 
praise the Lord heartily with words 

20 and music, and render thanks to 
God the Father in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ at all times and 
for all things. 

21 Be subject to one another out of 

22 reverence for Christ. Wives, be 
subject to your husbands as to the 

23 Lord, for the husband is the head 
of the wife as Christ also (though 
he is the saviour of the Body) is the 

24 head of the church; as the church 
is subject to Christ, so wives are 
to be subject to their husbands 

25 in every respect. Husbands, love 
your wives, just as Christ loved the 
church and gave himself up for her 

26 to consecrate her by cleansing her 
in the bath of baptism as she utters 

27 her confession, in order to have the 
church as his very own, standing 
before him in all her glory, with 
never a spot or wrinkle or any such 
flaw, but consecrated and un- 

28 blemished. So ought husbands to 
love their wives — to love them as 
their own bodies (he who loves his 

29 wife loves himself). For no one 
ever hates his flesh; no, he nour- 
ishes and cherishes it (just as Christ 

30 does the church, for we are members 

31 of his Body).t Therefore shall a 

♦ Reading axpi^ws x«s with fc{*, B, 
Origen, etc. 

f Omitting [^K rrjs ffapKbs avrov real 4k rSiv 
iffTfcov ainov] with J?*, A B, Origen, etc. 
244 



man leave father and mother and 
cleave to his wife, and the pair shall 
be one flesh. This is a profound 32 
symbol, I mean as regards Christ 
and the church. However, let 33 
every man of you love his wife as 
himself, and let the wife reverence 
her husband. Children, obey your 6 
parents in the Lord, for this is 
right; honour your father and mother 2 
(it is the first command with a 
promise), that it may be well with 3 
you and that you may live long on 
earth. As for you fathers, do not 4 
exasperate your children, but bring 
them up in the discipline and on 
the admonitions of the Lord. 
Servants, be obedient to those 5 
who are your masters here below 
with reverence and trembling, with 
singleness of heart as to Christ 
himself ; instead of merely working 6 
when their eye is on you, like those 
who court human favour, do God's 
will from the heart like servants of 7 
Christ, by rendering service with 
goodwill as to the Lord and Master, 
not to men. Be sure that everyone, 8 
slave or free, will be paid back by 
the Lord and Master for the good he 
has done. And as for you masters, 9 
act by your servants in the same 
way, and stop threatening them; 
be sure that they and you have a 
Lord and Master in heaven, and 
there is no partiality about him. 

To conclude. Be strong in the 10 
Lord and in the strength of his 
might; put on God's armour so 11 
as to be able to stand against the 
stratagems of the devil. For we 12 
have to struggle not with blood and 
flesh but with the angelic Rulers, 
the angelic Authorities, the poten- 
tates of the dark present, the spirit- 
forces of evil in the heavenly 
sphere. So take God's armour, 13 
I that you may be able to make a 



EPHESIANS VI 



stand upon the evil day and hold 
your ground by overcoming all 

14 the foe. Hold your ground, tighten 
the belt of truth about your loins, 
wear integrity as your coat of mail, 

15 and have your feet shod with the 
stability of the gospel of peace ; 

16 above all, take faith as your shield, 
to enable you to quench all the 
fire-tipped darts flung by the evil 

17 one, put on salvation as your hel- 
met, and take the Spirit as your 
sword (that is, the word of God), 

18 praying at all times in the Spirit 
with all manner of prayer and en- 
treaty — be alive to that, attend to 
it unceasingly, interceding on be- 

19 half of all the saints and on my 
behalf also, that I may be allowed I 



to speak and open my lips in order 
to expound fully and freely that 
open secret of the gospel for the 20 
sake of which I am in custody as 
its envoy. Pray that I may have 
freedom to declare it a,s I should. 

Our beloved brother Tychicus, a 21 
faithful minister in the Lord, will 
give you all information about me, 
so that you may know how I 
am ; that is why I am sending 22 
him to you, to let you know 
how I am and to encourage your 
hearts. 

Peace and love with faith be to 23 
the brothers from God the Father 
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace 24 
be with all who have an undying 
love for our Lord Jesus Christ. 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 



PHILIPPIANS 



CHAT. 

1 Paul and Timotheus, servants 
of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in 
Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, as 
well as to the bishops and deacons : 

2 grace and peace to you from God 
our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

8 I thank my God for all your 

4 remembrance of me ; in all my 
prayers for you all I always pray 

5 with a sense of joy for what you 
have contributed to the gospel from 
the very first day down to this 

6 moment ; of this I am confident, 
that he who has begun the good 
work in you will go on completing 

7 it until the day of Jesus Christ. It 
is only natural for me to be think- 
ing of you all in this way, for alike 
in my prison and as I defend and 
vindicate the gospel, I bear in mind 
how you all share with me in the 

8 grace divine. God is my witness 
that I yearn for you all with the 
affection of Christ Jesus himself I 

9 And it is my prayer that your love 
may be more and more rich in 
knowledge and all manner of in- 
sight, enabling you to have a sense 

10 of what is vital, so that you may 
be transparent and no harm to 
anyone in view of the day of Christ, 

11 your life covered with that harvest 
of righteousness which Jesus Christ 
produces to the glory and the 
praise of God. 

12 I would have you understand, 
my brothers, that my affairs have 
really tended to advance the gos- 

X3 pel ; throughout the whole of the 
246 



praetorian guard and everywhere 
else it is recognized that I am im- 
prisoned on account of my con- 
nexion with Christ, and my im- 14 
prisonment has given the majority 
of the brotherhood greater con- 
fidence in the Lord to venture on 
speaking the word of God without 
being afraid. Some of them, it is 16 
true, are actually preaching Christ 
from envy and rivalry, others from 
goodwill ; the latter do it from love 16 
to me, knowing that I am set here 
to defend the gospel, but the former 17 
proclaim Christ for their own ends, 
with mixed motives, intending to 
annoy me as I lie in prison. What 18 
does it matter? Anyhow, for ul- 
terior ends or honestly, Christ is 
being proclaimed, and I rejoice over 
that ; yes and I will rejoice over it. 

The outcome of all this, I know, 19 
will he my release, as you continue 
to pray for me, and as I am pro- 
vided with the Spirit of Jesus 
Christ — my eager desire and hope 20 
being that I may never feel 
ashamed but that now as ever I 
may do honour to Christ in my 
own person by fearless courage. 
Whether that means life or death, 
no matter ! As life means Christ 21 
to me, so death means gain. But 22 
then, if it is to be life here below, 
that means fruitful work. So — well, 
I cannot tell which to choose ; I 23 
am in a dilemma between the two. 
My strong desire is to depart and 
be with Christ, for that is far the 
best. But for your sakes it is 24 



PHILIPPIANS II 



25 necessary I should live on here be- 
low. I am sure it is, and so I know 
I shall remain alive and serve you 
all by forwarding your progress 
and fostering the joy of your faith. 

26 Thus you will have ample cause to 
glory in Christ Jesus over me — over 
my return to you. 

27 Only, do lead a hfe that is 
worthy of the gospel of Christ. 
Whether I come and see you or 
only hear of you in absence, let 
me know you stand firm in a 
common spirit, fighting side by 
side like one man for the faith of 

28 the gospel. Never be scared for 
a second by your opponents ; your 
fearlessness is a clear omen of ruin 
for them and of your own salvation 

29 — at the hands of God. For on 
behalf of Christ you have the 
favour of suffering no less than of 

30 believing in him, by waging the 
same conflict that, as once you 
saw and now you hear, I wage my- 

2 self. So by all the stimulus of 
Christ, by every incentive of love, 
by all your participation in the 
Spirit, by all your affectionate 

2 tenderness, I pray you to give me 
the utter joy of knowing you are 
living in harmony, with the same 
feelings of love, with one heart and 

3 soul, never acting for private ends 
or from vanity, but humbly con- 
sidering each other the better man, 

4 and each with an eye to the inter- 
ests of others as well as to his own. 

5 Treat one another with the same 
spirit as you experience in Christ 

6 Jesus. Though he was divine by 
nature, he did not snatch at 

7 equality with God but emptied 
himself by taking the nature of a 

8 servant ; born in human guise and 
appearing in human form, he hum- 
bly stooped in his obedience even 
to die, and to die upon the cross. 



Therefore God raised him high and 9 
conferred on him a Name above all 
names, so that before the Name 10 
of Jesus every knee should bend in 
heaven, on earth, and underneath 
the earth, and every tongue confess 11 
that * Jesus Christ is Lord,* to the 
glory of God the Father. 

Therefore, my beloved, as you 12 
have been obedient always and 
not simply when I was present, so, 
now that I am absent, work all the 
more strenuously at your salvation 
with reverence and trembling, for 13 
it is God who in his goodwill en- 
ables you to will this and to 
achieve it. In all that you do, avoid 14 
grumbling and disputing, so as to 15 
be blameless and innocent, fault- 
less children of God in a crooked 
and perverse generation where you 
shine like stars in a dark world; 
hold fast the word of life, so that I 16 
can be proud of you on the Day 
of Christ, because I have not run 
or worked for nothing. Even if my 17 
life-blood has to be poured as a 
libation on the sacred sacrifice of 
faith you are offering to God, I 
rejoice, I congratulate you all — and 18 
you in turn must rejoice and con- 
gratulate me. 

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send 19 
you Timotheus before long, that 
I may be heartened by news of 
you. I have no one like him, for 20 
genuine interest in your welfare. 
Everybody is selfish, instead of 21 
caring for Jesus Christ. But you 22 
know how he has stood the test, 
how he has served with me in 
the gospel, hke a son helping his 
father. I hope to send him then, 23 
as soon as ever I see how it will go 
with me — though I am confident in 24 
the Lord that I will be coming my- 
self before long. As for Epaphro- 25 
ditus, however, my brother, mv 

247 



PHILIPPIANS III 



fellow-worker, my fellow-soldier, 
and your messenger to meet my 
wants, I think it necessary to send 

26 you him at once, for he has been 
yearning for you all. He has been 
greatly concerned because you 

27 heard he was ill. And he was ill, 
nearly dead with illness. But God 
had mercy on him, and not only 
on him but on me, to save me from 
having one sorrow upon another. 

28 So I am specially eager to send him, 
that you may be glad when you 
see him again, and thus my own 

29 anxiety may be lightened. Give 
him a welcome in the Lord, 
then, with your hearts full of joy. 

30 Value men like that, for he nearly 
died in the service of Christ by 
risking his life to make up for the 
services you were not here to 
render me. 



3 Well then, my brothers, rejoice 
in the Lord. I am repeating this 
word * rejoice ' in my letter, but 
that does not tire me and it is the 

2 safe course for you. — Beware of 
these dogs, these wicked workmen, 

3 the incision-party ! We are the true 
Circumcision, we who worship God 
in spirit, we who pride ourselves 
on Christ Jesus, we who rely upon 

4 no outward privilege. Though I 
could rely on outward privilege, if 
I chose. Whoever thinks he can 

5 rely on that, I can outdo him. I 
was circumcised on the eighth day 
after birth ; I belonged to the race 
of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; 
I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew 
parents, a Pharisee as regards the 

6 Law, in point of ardour a persecutor 
of the church, immaculate by the 
standard of legal righteousness. 

7 But for Christ's sake I have learned 
to count my former gains a loss; 

248 



indeed I count anything a loss, 8 
compared to the supreme value of 
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 
For his sake I have lost everything 
(I count it all the veriest refuse) 
in order to gain Christ and be 9 
found at death in him, possessing 
no legal righteousness of my own 
but the righteousness of faith in 
Christ, the divine righteousness 
that rests on faith. I would know 10 
him in the power of his resurrection 
and the fellowship of his sufferings, 
with my nature transformed to 
die as he died, to see if I too can 11 
attain the resurrection from the 
dead. Not that I have already 12 
attained this or am already perfect, 
but I press forward to appropriate it 
because I have been appropriated 
myself by Christ Jesus, Brothers, 13 
I for one do not consider myself 
to have appropriated this ; my one 
thought is, by forgetting what lies 
behind me and straining to what 
lies before me, to press on to the 14 
goal for the prize of God's high call 
in Christ Jesus. For all those of 15 
our number Ivho are mature, this 
must be the point of view; God 
will reveal that to any of you who 
look at things differently. Only, 16 
we must let our steps be guided by 
such truth as we have attained. 

Copy me, brothers, one and all 17 
of you, and notice those who live 
by the example you get from me. 
For many — as I have often told 18 
you and tell you now with tears — 
many live as enemies of the cross 
of Christ. Destruction is their fate, 19 
the belly is their god, they glory 
in their shame, these men of earthly 
mind 1 But we are a colony of 20 
heaven, and we wait for the Saviour 
who comes from heaven, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who will transform 21 
the body that belongs to our low 



PHILIPPIANS IV 



estate till it resembles the body of 
his Glory, by the same power that 
enables him to make everything 
4 subject to himself. So then, my 
brothers, for whom I cherish love 
and longing, my joy and crown, this 
is how you must stand firm in the 
Lord, O my beloved. 

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat 
Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 

3 And you, my true comrade, lend 
a hand to these women, I beg of 
you; they have fought at my side 
in the active service of the gospel, 
along with Clement and the rest 
of my fellow- workers, whose names 
are in the hook of life, 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I 

5 will say it again, * rejoice.' Let 
your forbearance be known to 
everyone; the Lord is at hand. 

6 Never be anxious, but always make 
your requests known to God in 
prayer and supplication with 

7 thanksgiving ; so shall God's peace, 
that surpasses all our dreams, 
keep guard over your hearts and 
minds in Christ Jesus. 

8 Finally, brothers, keep in mind 
whatever is true, whatever is 
worthy, whatever is just, what- 
ever is pure, whatever is attrac- 
tive, whatever is high-toned, all 

9 excellence, all merit. Practise also 
what you have learned and re- 
ceived from me, what you heard me 
say and what you saw me do ; then 
the Gk)d of peace will be with you. 

10 It was a great joy to me in the 
Lord that your care for me could 
revive again; for what you lacked 



was never the care but the chance 
of showing it. Not that I com- 11 
plain of want, for I have learned 
how to be content wherever I am. 
I know how to live humbly; I 12 
also know how to live in prosperity. 
I have been initiated into the 
secret for all sorts and conditions 
of life, for plenty and for hunger, 
for prosperity and for privations. 
In him who strengthens me I am 13 
able for an3rthing. But you were 14 
kind enough to take your share 
in my trouble. You Philippians 15 
are well aware that in the early 
days of the gospel, when I had left 
Macedonia, no church but your- 
selves had any financial dealings 
with me; even when I was in 16 
Thessalonica, you sent money more 
than once for my needs. It is 17 
not the money I am anxious for; 
what I am anxious for is the in- 
terest that accumulates in this way 
to your divine credit ! Your debt 18 
to me is fully paid and more than 
paid! I am amply supplied with 
what you have sent by Epaphro- 
ditus, a fragrant 'perfume, the sort 
of sacrifice that God approves and 
welcomes. My God will supply all 19 
your own needs from his wealth in 
Glory in Christ Jesus. Glory to 20 
God our Father for ever and ever: 
Amen. 

Salute every saint in Christ 21 
Jesus. The brothers beside me 
salute you. All the saints salute 22 
you, especially the Imperial slaves. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus 23 
Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 



249 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 



COLOSSIANS 



OHAV. 

1 Paul, by God's will an apostle 
of Christ Jesus, and brother Timo- 

2 theus, to the consecrated and faith- 
ful brothers in Christ at Colossae : 
grace and peace to you from God 
our Father. 

3 We always thank the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 

4 when we pray for you, since we 
have heard of your faith in Christ 
Jesus and your love for all the 

5 saints, due to the hope which is 
laid up for you in heaven. You 
heard of this hope originally in 
the message of the Truth, in 

6 that gospel which has reached you 
as it spreads over all the world 
with fruit and increase. Such has 
been your life from the day 
you learned to know what God's 

7 grace really is. You got that 
lesson from our beloved fellow- 
servant Epaphras, a minister of 
Christ who is faithful to your in- 

6 terests ; and it is he who has in- 
formed us of your love in the Spirit. 

9 Hence, from the day we heard of it, 
we have never ceased to pray for 
you, asking God to fill you with 
the knowledge of his will in all 

10 spiritual wisdom and insight, so 
that you may lead a life that is 
worthy of the Lord and give him 
entire satisfaction. May you be 
fruitful and increase in the doing of 
all good, as you thus know God ! 

11 May his glorious might nerve you 
with full power to endure and to be 
patient cheerfully, whatever comes, 

12 thanking the Father who has quali- 

250 



fied you to share the lot of the 

saints in the Light, rescuing us 13 
from the power of the Darlmess 
and transferring us to the realm of 
his beloved Son I In him we enjoy 14 
our redemption, that is, the forgive- 
ness of sins. He is the likeness of 15 
the unseen God, born first before 
all the creation — for it was by him 16 
that all things were created both in 
heaven and on earth, both the seen 
and the unseen, including Thrones, 
angelic Lords, celestial Powers and 
Rulers ; all things have been created 
by him and for him ; he is prior to 17 
all and all coheres in him. Also, 18 
he is the head of the Body, that 
is, of the church, in virtue of his 
primacy as the first to be born from 
the dead — that gives him pre- 
eminence over all. For it was in 19 
him that the divine Fulness willed 
to settle without limit, and by him it 20 
willed to reconcile in his own person 
all on earth and in heaven alike, in 
a peace made by the blood of his 
cross. Once you were estranged 21 
yourselves, your hearts hostile to 
him in evildoing; but now he has 
reconciled you by dying in his 22 
mortal body, so as to set you conse- 
crated and unblemished and irre- 
proachable in his presence — ^that is, 23 
if you adhere to the foundations and 
stability of the faith, instead of mov- 
ing away from the hope you have 
learned in the gospel, that gospel 
which has been preached to every 
creature under heaven, and of which 
I Paul was made a minister. 



COLOSSIANS II 



24 I am suffering now on your be- 
half, but I rejoice in that; I would 
make up the full sum of all that 
Christ has to suffer in my person 
on behalf of the church, his Body ; 

25 for I am a minister of the church by 
the divine commission which has 
been granted me in your interests, 
to make a full presentation of God's 

26 message — of that open secret which, 
though concealed from ages and 
generations of old, has now been 

27 disclosed to the saints of God. It 
is His wdll that they should under- 
stand the glorious wealth which 
this secret holds for the Gentiles, in 
the fact of Christ's presence among 

28 you as your hope of glory. This is 
the Christ we proclaim; we train 
everyone and teach everyone the 
full scope of this knowledge, in 
order to set everyone before God 

29 mature in Christ ; I labour for that 
end, striving for it with the divine 
energy which is a power within me. 

2 Striving? Yes, I want you to 
understand my deep concern for 
you and for those at Laodicea, for 
all who have never seen my face. 

2 May their hearts be encouraged ! 
May they learn the meaning of 
love ! May they have all the 
wealth of conviction that comes 
from insight ! May they learn to 
know that open secret of God, the 

3 Father of Christ, in whom all the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge 

4 he hidden ! I say this to prevent 
you from being deluded by plau- 

5 sible arguments from anybody ; for 
although I am absent in body I am 
with you in spirit, and it is a joy 
to note your steadiness and the 
solid front of your faith in Christ. 

6 Since you have had the messiah, 
even Jesus the Lord, brought to 

7 you, lead your life in him, fixed and 
founded in him, confirmed in the 



faith as you have been taught it, 
and overflowing with thankfulness 
to God. Beware of anyone getting 8 
hold of you by means of a theosophy 
which is specious make-believe, on 
the lines of human tradition, cor- 
responding to the Elemental spirits 
of the world and not to Christ. 
It is in Christ that the entire 9 
Fulness of deity has settled bodily, 
it is in him that you reach your full 10 
life, and he is the Head of every 
angelic Ruler and Power; in him 11 
you have been circumcised with 
no material circumcision that cuts 
flesh from the body, but with 
Christ's own circumcision, when 12 
you were buried with him in your 
baptism and thereby raised with 
him as you believed in the power 
of the God who raised him from 
the dead. For though you were 13 
dead in your trespasses, your flesh 
uncircumcised. He made you live 
with Christ, He forgave us all our 
trespasses. He cancelled the regu- 14 
lations that stood against us — all 
these obligations he set aside when 
he nailed them to the cross, when 15 
he cut away the angelic Rulers and 
Powers from us, exposing them to 
all the world and triumphing over 
them in the cross. So let no one 16 
take you to task on questions of eat- 
ing and drinking or in connexion 
with the observance of festivals or 
new moons or sabbaths. All that 17 
is the mere shadow of what is to 
be ; the substance belongs to Christ. 
Let no one lay down rules for you 18 
as he pleases, with regard to fasting 
and the cult of angels, presuming 
on his visions and inflated by his 
sensuous notions, instead of keeping 19 
in touch with that Head under 
whom the entire Body, supplied with 
joints and sinews and thus com- 
pacted, grows with growth divine. 

251 



COLOSSIANS III, IV 



20 As you died with Christ to the 
Elemental spirits of the worid, why 
live as if you still belonged to the 
worid? Why submit to rules and 

21 regulations like " Hands off this ! " 
" Taste not that ! " " Touch not 

22 this ! " — referring to things that 
perish by being used? These 
rules are determined by human 

23 precepts and tenets ; they get the 
name of ' wisdom ' with their self- 
imposed devotions, with their fast- 
ing, with their rigorous discipline of 
the body, but they are of no value, 
they simply pamper the flesh ! 

8 Since then you have been raised 
with Christ, aim at what is above, 
where Christ is, seated at the right 

2 hand of God ; mind what is above, 

3 not what is on earth, for you died 
and your life is hidden with Christ 

4 in God. When Christ, who is your 
life, appears, then you voll appear 

5 with him in glory. So put to death 
those members that are on earth : 
sexual vice, impurity, appetite, 
evil desire, and lust (which is 

6 idolatry), things that bring down 
the anger of God on the sons of 

7 disobedience. Once you moved 
among them when you lived in 

8 them; but off with them all now, 
off with anger, rage, malice, slander, 

9 foul talk ! Tell no lies to one 
another ; you have stripped off 
the old nature with its practices, 

10 and put on the new nature which is 
renewed in the likeness of its Creator 

11 for the knowledge of him. In it there 
is no room for Greek and Jew, cir- 
cumcised and uncircumcised, bar- 
barian, Scythian, slave, or free man ; 
Christ is everj'^thing and everywhere. 

12 As God's own chosen, then, 
as consecrated and beloved, be 
clothed with compassion, kindliness, 
humility, gentleness, and good 

13 temper — ^forbear and forgive each 

252 



other in any case of complaint ; as 
the Lord forgave you, so must you 
forgive. And above all you must 14 
be loving, for love is the link of 
the perfect life. Also, let the peace 15 
of Christ be supreme within your 
hearts — ^that is why you have been 
called as members of the one Body. 
And you must be thankful. Let the 16 
inspiration of Christ dwell in your 
midst with all its wealth of wis- 
dom; teach and train one another 
with the music of psalms, with 
hymns, and songs of the spiritual 
life ; praise God with thankful heart. 
Indeed, whatever you say or do, let 17 
everything be done in dependence 
on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in 
his name to God the Father. 

Wives, be subject to your hus- 18 
bands ; that is your proper duty in 
the Lord. Husbands, love your 19 
wives, do not be harsh to them. 
Children, obey your parents at 20 
every point, for this pleases the 
Lord right well. Fathers, avoid 21 
irritating your children, in case 
they get dispirited. Servants, obey 22 
your masters here below at every 
point; do not work simply when 
their eye is on you, like those who 
court human favour, but serve them 
with a single heart out of reverence 
for your Lord and Master. What- 23 
ever be your task, work at it 
heartily as servants of the Lord 
and not of men ; remember, you 24 
will receive from the Lord the in- 
heritance which is your due ; serve 
Christ your Lord and Master, for 25 
the wrongdoer will be paid back 
for his wrongdoing — ^there will be 
no favour shown. Masters, treat 4 
your servants justly and fairly; 
remember you have a Master of 
your own in heaven. 

Attend to your prayers, maintain 2 
your zest for prayer by thanks- 



COLOSSIANS IV 



3 giving ; and pray for me as well, 
that God may give me an opening 
for the word, to speak of the open 
secret of Christ for which I am 

4 in custody. Pray that I may un- 

5 fold it as I should. Let Christian 
wisdom rule your behaviour to 
the outside world ; make the very 

6 most of your time; let your talk 
always have a saving salt of grace 
about it, and learn how to answer 
any question put to you. 

7 Tychicus, that beloved brother 
and faithful minister and fellow- 
servant in the Lord, will give you 

8 all information about me. That is 
why I am sending him to you, to 
let you know how I am and to en- 

9 courage your hearts. He is accom- 
panied by that faithful and be- 
loved brother Onesimus, who is 
one of yourselves. They will in- 
form you of all that goes on here. 

10 Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner 
salutes you ; so does Mark the cousin 
of Barnabas, about whom you have 
got instructions (if he comes to you, 

11 give him a welcome); and so does 
Jesus who is called Justus. These 



are the only comrades in the work 
of God's realm, belonging to the 
circumcised, who have been any 
comfort to me. Epaphras, who is 12 
one of yourselves, salutes you — a 
servant of Christ Jesus who is 
always earnest in prayer for you, 
that you may stand firm like mature 
and convinced Christians, what- 
ever be the will of God for you. I 13 
can testify to his exertions on your 
behalf and on behalf of those at 
Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our be- 14 
loved Luke, the doctor, salutes you ; 
so does Demas. Salute the brothers 15 
at Laodicea, also Nympha and the 
church which meets at her house. 
And when this letter has been 16 
read to you, see that it is also read 
in the church of the Laodiceans; 
also, see that you read the letter that 
reaches you from Laodicea. And 17 
tell Archippus, ' Attend to the 
ministry you have received in the 
Lord ; see that you fulfil it.' 

This salutation is in my own 18 
hand, from Paul. ' Remember I 
am in prison. Grace be with 
you.' 



253 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 



THESSALONIANS 



1 Paul and Silvanus and Timo- 
theus, to the church of the Thessa- 
lonians in God the Father and the 
Lord Jesus Christ : grace and peace 
to you. 

2 We always thank God for you 
all when we mention you constantly 

3 in our prayers, as we recall your 
active faith and labour of love 
and patient hope in our Lord Jesus 
Christ, before our God and Father. 

4 O brothers beloved by God, we 

5 know he has chosen you; for our 
gospel came to you not with mere 
words but also with power and with 

'^ the holy Spirit, with ample con- 
viction on our part (you know 
what we were to you, for your own 

6 good), and you started to copy 
us and the Lord, welcoming the 
word, though it brought you heavy 
trouble, with a joy inspired by the 

7 holy Spirit. Thus you became a 
pattern to all the believers in Mace- 

8 donia and in Achaia ; for the word 
of the Lord has resounded from 
you not only through Macedonia 
and Achaia — no, your faith in 
God has reached every place. We 
never need to speak about it. 

9 People tell us of their own accord 
about the visit we paid to you, 
and how you turned to God from 

^ idols, to serve a living and a real 
10 God and to wait for the coming 
of his Son from heaven — the Son 
whom he raised from the dead, 
Jesus who rescues us from the 
Wrath to come, 
264 



CHAP. 

But you remember yourselves, 2 
brothers, that our visit to you 
was no failure. At Philippi, as 2 
you know, we had been ill-treated 
and insulted, but we took courage 
and confidence in our God to tell 
you the gospel of God in spite of 
all the strain. For the appeal we 3 
make does not spring from any 
delusion or from impure motives — 
it does not work by cunning; no, 4 
God has attested our fitness to be 
entrusted with the gospel, and so we 
tell the gospel not to satisfy men 
but to satisfy the God who tests 
our hearts. We never resorted to 5 
flattery (you know that), nor to 
any pretext for self-seeking (God 
is witness to that) ; we never sought 6 
honour from men, from you or 
from anybody else, though as 
apostles of Christ we had the power 
of claiming to be men of weight; 
no, we behaved gently when we 7 
were among you, like a nursing 
mother cherishing her own children, 
fain, in our yearning affection for 8 
you, to impart not only the gospel 
of God to you but our very souls 
as well — you had so won our love. 
Brothers, you recollect our hard 9 
labour and toil, how we worked at 
our trade night and day, when we 
preached the gospel to you, so as 
not to be a burden to any of you. 
You are witnesses, and so is God, 10 
to our behaviour among you be- 
lievers, how pious and upright and 
blameless it was, how (as you know) 11 



I. THESSALONIANS III, IV 



we treated each of you as a father 
treats his children, beseeching you, 
encouraging you, and charging you 

12 to lead a life worthy of the God 
who called you to his own realm 
and glory. 

13 We thank God constantly for 
this too, that when you received 
the word of the divine message 
from us, you took it not as a human 
word but for what it really is, the 
word of God. It proves effective in 

14 you believers, for you have started, 
my brothers, to copy the churches 
of God in Christ Jesus throughout 
Judaea; you have suffered from 
your compatriots just as they 

15 have suffered from the Jews, who 
killed the Lord Jesus and the 
prophets, who harassed ourselves, 
who offend God and oppose all 

16 men by hindering us from speaking 
words of salvation to the Gentiles. 
So they would fill up the measure of 
their sins to the last drop ! But the 
Wrath is on them to the bitter end ! 

17 Brothers, when we were bereft 
of you for a little while (out of sight, 
not out of mind), we were the more 
eager to see you. We had a keen 

18 longing for you. (We did want to 
reach you — I did, I Paul, more 
than once — but Satan stopped us.) 

19 For who is our hope, our joy, our 
crown of pride (who but you?) 
in the presence of our Lord Jesus 

20 on his arrival ? Why, you, you 

3 are our glory and joy ! So, 
unable to bear it any longer, I 
made up my mind to be left 

2 behind at Athens all alone ; I sent 
Timotheus our brother, who works 
with God in the gospel of Christ, 
for your strengthening and en- 

8 couragement in the faith, to prevent 
anyone being disturbed by these 
troubles. (Troubles are our lot, 

4 you know that well ; for we told 



you beforehand, when we were with 
you, that " we Christians are to 
have trouble " — and, as you know, 
it has been so.) Well then, unable 5 
to bear it any longer, I sent to find 
out about your faith, in case the 
Tempter had tempted you and 
our labour had been thrown away. 
But when Timotheus reached me a 6 
moment ago on his return from 
you, bringing me the good news of 
your faith and love and of how 
you always remember me kindly, 
longing to see me as I long to see 
you, then, amid all my own dis- 7 
tress and trouble, I was cheered — 
this faith of yours encouraged me. 
It is life to me now, if you stand 8 
firm in the Lord. How can I 9 
render thanks enough to God for , 
you, for all the joy you make me , 
feel in the presence of our God? 
Night and day I pray specially 10 
that I may see your faces and sup- 
ply what is defective in your faith. 
May our God and Father and our 11 
Lord Jesus direct my way to you I 
And may the Lord make you in- 12 
crease and excel in love to one 
another and to all men (as is 
my love for you), so as to streng- 13 
then your hearts and make them 
blameless in holiness before our 
God and Father when our Lord i 
Jesus comes with all his holy ones. | 
[Amen.] 



Finally, brothers, we beg and 4 
beseech you in the Lord Jesus to 
follow our instructions about the 
way you are to live so as to satisfy * 
God; you are leading that life, 
but you are to excel in it still 
further. You remember the in- 2 
structions we gave you on the 
authority of the Lord Jesus. It 8 
is God's will that you should be 

255 



I. THESSALONIANS V 



consecrated, that you abstain from 

4 sexual vice, that each of you should 
learn to take a wife for himself 

5 chastely and honourably, not to 
gratify sensual passion like the 
Gentiles in their ignorance of God — 

6 no one is to defraud or overreach 
his brother in this matter, for the 
Lord avenges all these sins, as we 
told you already in our solemn 

7 protest against them. God did 
not call us to be impure but to be 

8 consecrated; hence, he who dis- 
regards this, disregards not man 
but the God who gave you his holy 

9 Spirit. You need no one to write 
you upon brotherly love, for you 
are yourselves taught by God to 

10 love one another, as indeed is your 
practice towards all the brothers 
throughout all Macedonia. We be- 
seech you, brothers, to excel in 

11 this more and more; also, endea- 
vour to live quietly, attend to your 
own business, and — -as we charged 

12 you — work with your hands, so 
that your life may be correct in the 
eyes of the outside world and self- 
supporting. 

13 We would like you, brothers, to 
understand about those who are 
asleep in death. You must not 
grieve for them, like the rest of men 

14 who have no hope. Since we be- 
lieve that Jesus died and rose again, 
then it follows that by means of 
Jesus God will bring with him 

15 those who have fallen asleep. For 
we tell you, as the Lord has told us, 
that we the living, who survive till 
the Lord comes, are by no means 
to take precedence of those who 

16 have fallen asleep. The Lord him- 
self will descend from heaven with 

^ a loud summons, when the arch- 
angel calls and the trumpet of God 
sounds; the dead in Christ will 

17 rise first; then we the living, who 

256 



survive, will be caught up along 
with them in the clouds to meet 
the Lord in the air, and so we will 
be with the Lord for ever. Now 18 
then, encourage one another with 
these words. 

As regards the course and periods 5 
of time, brothers, you have no need 
of being written to. You know per- 2 
fectly well that the day of the Lord 
comes like a thief in the night; 
when 'all's well' and *all is safe' 3 
are on the lips of men, then all of a 
sudden Destruction is upon them, 
like pangs on a pregnant woman — 
escape there is none. But, brothers, 4 
you are not in the darkness for the 
Day to surprise you like thieves ; * 
you are all sons of the Light and 5 
sons of the day. We do not belong 
to the night or the darkness. Well 6 
then, we must not sleep like the 
rest of men, but be wakeful and 
sober; for sleepers sleep by night 7 
and drunkards are drunk by night, 
but we must be sober, we who 8 
belong to the day, clad in faith and 
love as our coat of mail, with the 
hope of salvation as our helmet — 
for God destined us not for Wrath 9 
but to gain salvation through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for 10 
us that waking in life or sleeping 
in death we should live together 
with him. Encourage one another, 11 
therefore, and let each edify the 
other — as indeed you are doing. 

Brothers, we beg you to respect 12 
those who are working among you, 
presiding over you in the Lord and 
maintaining discipUne; hold them 13 
in special esteem and affection, 
for the sake of their work. Be 
at peace among yourselves. We 14 
beseech you, brothers, keep a 
check upon loafers, encourage the 

* Reading /cAeWaj with A B and the 
Bohairio version. 



I. THESSALONIANS V 



faint-hearted, sustain weak souls, 
never lose your temper with any- 

15 one; see that none of you pays 
back evil for evil, but always aim 
at what is kind to one another 

16 and to all the world; rejoice at 

17 all times, never give up prayer, 

18 thank God for everything — such 
is his will for you in Christ Jesus ; 

19 never quench the fire of the Spirit, 

20 never disdain prophetic revelations 

21 but test them all, retaining what 

22 is good and abstaining from what- 
ever kind is evil. 



May the God of peace consecrate 23 
you through and through ! Spirit, 
soul, and body, may you be kept 
without break or blame till the 
arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ I 
He who calls you is faithful, he will 24 
do this. 

Pray for us, brothers. 25 

Salute every one of the brothers 26 
with a holy kiss. I adjure you 27 
by the Lord to have this letter read 
aloud to all the [holy] brothers. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus 28 
Christ be with you. [Amen.] 



291 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE 



THESSALONIANS 



OHAP. 

1 Paul and Silvanus and Tlmo- 
theus, to the church of the Thessa- 
lonians in God our Father and the 

2 Lord Jesus Christ : grace and 
peace to you from God the Father 
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

8 We are bound always to thank 
God for you, brothers — ^it is proper 
that we should, because your faith 
grows apace and your mutual love, 

4 one and all, is increasing. So much 
so, that throughout the churches 
of God we are proud of you, proud 
of the stedfastness and faith you 
display through all the persecutions 
and the troubles in which you are 

5 involved. They are proof positive 
of God*s equity; you are suffering 
for the realm of God, and he means 
to make you worthy of it — since 

6 God considers it but just 

to repay with trouble those who 
trouble you, 

7 and repay you who are troubled 

(as well as us) with rest and 
relief, 
when the Lord Jesus is revealed 
from heaven 
together with the angels of his 

8 power in flaming fire, 

to inflict punishment on those who 
ignore God, 
even on those who refuse obedi- 
ence to the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus, 
men who will pay the penalty of 
being destroyed eternally 
from the presence of the Lord 
and from the glory of his 
might, 



when he comes to he glorified in 10 
his saints 
and marvelled at in all believers 
on that day (for our testimony has 
found confirmation * in your lives). 
In view of this we always pray 11 
for you, asking our God to make 
you worthy of his calling and by his 
power to fulfil every good resolve 
and every effort of faith, so that 12 
the name of our Lord Jesus may 
he glorified in you (and you glorified 
in him), by the grace of our God 
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

With regard to the arrival of 2 
the t Lord Jesus Christ and our 
muster before him, I beg you, 
brothers, not to let your minds 2 
get easily unsettled or excited by 
any spirit of prophecy or any de- 
claration or any letter purporting 
to come from me, to the effect that 
the Day of the Lord is already 
here. Let nobody delude you into 3 
this belief, whatever he may say. 
It will not come till the Rebellion 
takes place first of all, with the 
revealing of the Lawless J One, the 
doomed One, the adversary who 4 
vaunts himself above and against 
every so-called god or object of 
worship, actually seating himself 
in the temple of God with the pro- 
clamation that he himself is God. 

* Reading with Markland and Hort 
im<rr(t>67i (104 469 Ambrosiaster) for the 
ivia-reierj of most manuscripts and all 
versions. 

t Omitting 7}fia)v with B Syr^i. 

I Reading avo/.das with &5 B, etc., for 
the Western paraphrastic afiaprias. 



II. THESSALONIANS III 



5 Do you not remember I used to tell 
you this when I was with you? 

6 Well, you can recall now what it 
is that restrains him from being 
revealed before his appointed time. 

7 For the secret force of lawlessness 
is at work already ; only, it cannot 
be revealed till he who at present 
restrains it is removed. 

8 Then shall the Lawless One be 

revealed, 
whom the Lord Jesus will 

destroy with the breath of his 

lips 
and quell by his appearing and 

arrival — 

9 that One whose arrival is due to 

Satan's activity, 
with the full power, the miracles 
and portents, of falsehood, 

10 and with the full deceitfulness 

of evil for those who are 
doomed to perish, 
since they refuse to love the 
Truth that would save 
them. 

11 Therefore God visits them with an 

active delusion, 
till they put faith in false- 
hood, 

12 so that all may be doomed who 

refuse faith in the Truth 
but delight in evil. 

13 Now we are bound always to 
thank God for you, brothers be- 
loved by the Lord, because God has 
chosen you as the first to be reaped 
for salvation, by the consecration 
of your spirit and by faith in the 

14 Truth ; it was for this that he 
called you by our gospel, to gain 
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

15 Well, ' then, brothers, stand firm 
and hold to the rules which you 
have learned from us orally or by 

16 letter. And may our Lord Jesus 
Christ himself and God our Father 
who has loved us and given us 



eternal encouragement and good 
hope, graciously encourage your 17 
hearts and strengthen them for all 
good in word and deed. 



OHAP. 

Finally, brothers, pray for us, 3 
that the word of the Lord may 
speed on and triumph, as in your 
own case, and that we may be 2 
delivered from perverse and evil 
men — for the faith is not held by 
all. However, the Lord is faithful ; 3 
he will be sure to strengthen you 
and protect you from the Evil 
one. Now, we rely on you in 4 
the Lord, confident that you do 
and will do what we enjoin. 5 
May the Lord direct your hearts 
towards God's love and towards 
Christ's patience ! 

Brothers, we charge you in the 6 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ to 
shun any brother who is loafing, 
instead of following the rule you 
got * from us. For you know quite 7 
well how to copy us; we did not 
loaf in your midst, we did not take 8 
free meals from anyone ; no, toiling 
hard at our trade, we worked night 
and day, so as not to be a burden 
to any of you. Not that we have 9 
no right to such support; it was 
simply to give you a pattern to copy. 
We used to charge you even when we 10 
were with you, ' If a man will not 
work, he shall not eat.' But we are 11 
informed that some of your num- 
ber are loafing, busybodies instead 
of busy. Now in the Lord Jesus 12 
Christ we charge and exhort such 
persons to keep quiet, to do their 
work and earn their own hving. 
As for yourselves, brothers, never 13 
grow tired of doing what is right. 

♦ Reading irapeKaBere with B G, etc., for 



/ 



II. THESSALONIANS III 



14 Only, if anyone will not obey our 
orders in this letter, mark that man, 
do not associate mth him — ^that 

15 will make him feel ashamed ! You 
are not to treat him as an enemy, 
but to put him under discipline as a 
brother. 

16 May the Lord of peace himself 



grant you peace continually, what- 
ever comes. 

The Lord be with you all. 

The salutation is in my own hand, 17 
Paul's; that is a mark in every 
letter of mine. This is how I write. 
' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 18 
be with you all.' 



2m 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO 



TIMOTHEUS 



1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus 
by command of God our Saviour 

2 and Christ Jesus our Hope, to Timo- 
theus his lawful son in the faith : 
grace, mercy, peace from God the 
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

3 As I asked you when I was on my 
way to Macedonia, stay where you 
are at Ephesus and warn certain 
individuals against teaching novel- 

4 ties and studying myths and inter- 
minable genealogies ; such studies 
bear upon speculations rather than 
on the divine order which belongs 

5 to faith. Whereas the aim of the 
Christian discipline is the love that 
springs from a pure heart, from a 
good conscience, and from a sincere 

6 faith. Certain individuals have 
failed here by turning to empty 

7 argument ; doctors of the Law is 
what they want to be, but they have 
no idea either of the meaning of the 
words they use or of the themes 

8 on which they harp. I am quite 
aware that * the Law is admirable ' 
— provided that one makes a law- 

9 ful use of it ; he must keep in mind 
that no law is ever made for honest 
people but for the lawless and the 
insubordinate, for the impious and 
the sinful, for the irreverent and the 
profane, for parricides and matri- 

10 cides, murderers, immoral persons, 
sodomites, kidnappers, hars, per- 
jurers, and whatever else is con- 

11 trary to sound doctrine as laid 
down by that glorious gospel of 
the blessed God with which I have 
been entrusted. 



I render thanks to Christ Jesus 12 
our Lord, who has made me able 
for this; he considered me trust- 
worthy and appointed me to the 
ministry, though I had formerly 13 
been a blasphemer and a perse- 
cutor and a wanton aggressor. I 
obtained mercy because in my 
unbelief I had acted out of ignor- 
ance ; and the grace of our Lord 14 
flooded my life along with the 
faith and love that Christ Jesus 
inspires. It is a sure word, it 15 
deserves all praise, that " Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners " ; and though I am the 
foremost of sinners, I obtained 16 
mercy, for the purpose of furnishing 
Christ Jesus with the chief illustra- 
tion of his utter patience ; I was to 
be the typical instance of all who 
were to believe in him and gain 
eternal Hfe. To the King of eter- 17 
nity, immortal, invisible, the only 
God, be honour and glory for ever 
and ever : Amen. 

I transmit these instructions to 18 
you, Timotheus my son, in accord- 
ance with what the prophets said 
who first directed me to you ; fight 
the good fight on these lines, keep- 19 
ing hold of faith and a good con- 
science. Certain individuals have 
scouted the good conscience and 
thus come to grief over their 
faith — including Hymenaeus and 20 
Alexander, whom I have made 
over to Satan. That will teach 
them to stop their blasphemous 
ongoings 1 

261 



I. TIMOTHEUS II, III 



eiAt. 



2 Well, my very first counsel is that 
supplications, prayers, petitions, 
and thanksgiving, are to be offered 

2 for all men — for kings and all in 
authority, that we may lead a tran- 
quil life in all piety and gravity; 

3 it is good to pray thus, it is accept- 
able to our Saviour, to the God who 

4 desires all men to be saved and to 
attain the knowledge of the Truth. 

5 For " there is one God " and " one 
intermediary between God and men, 
the man Christ Jesus who gave him- 

6 self as a ransom for all": — in due 
time this was attested, and I was ap- 

7 pointed to be its herald and apostle 
(I am not telling a lie, it is quite 
true), to teach the Gentiles faith 
and truth. 

8 Now I want the men to offer 
prayer at any meeting of the church ; 
and let the hands they lift to 
heaven be holy — they must be free 

9 from anger and dissension. Women 
in turn are to dress modestly and 
quietly in seemly garb; they are 
not to adorn themselves with plaits 
of hair, with gold or pearls or ex- 

10 pensive finery, but with good deeds 
(as befits women who make a re- 

11 ligious profession). A woman must 
listen quietly in church and be 

12 perfectly submissive; I allow no 
woman to teach or dictate to men, 

13 she must keep quiet. For Adam 

14 was created first, then Eve; and 
Adam was not deceived, it was 
Eve who was deceived and who fell 

16 into sin. However, women will get 

safely through childbirth if they 

continue to be faithful and loving 

and holy as well as unassuming. 

8 It is a popular * saying that 

* Reading avdpdoirtvos with D, the Old 
Latin, Anabrosiaster, and Western codices 
known to Jerome. It is much more easy 
to understand how it was altered to '!n(TT6s 
for the sake of uniformity with i. 16, etc., 
than vice versa. 



" whoever aspires to office is set 
upon an excellent occupation." 
Well, for the office of a bishop a 2 
man must be above reproach; he 
must be only married once, he must 
be temperate, master of himself, 
unruffled, hospitable, a skilled 
teacher, not a drunkard or violent, 3 
but lenient and conciliatory, not 
a lover of money, able to manage 4 
his own household properly and 
keep his children submissive and 
perfectly respectful (if a man does 5 
not know how to manage his own 
household, how is he to look after 
the church of God?); he must not 6 
be a new convert, in case he gets 
conceited and incurs the doom 
passed on the devil ; also, he must 7 
have a good reputation among 
outsiders, in case he incurs slander 
and is trapped by the devil. 

Deacons in turn are to be serious 8 
men; they are not to be tale- 
bearers or addicted to drink or 
pilfering; they must maintain the 9 
divine truth of the faith with a pure 
conscience. They too must be put 10 
on probation; after that, if they 
are above reproach, they can serve 
as deacons. Their wives must be 11 
serious too; they must not be 
slanderers but temperate and ab- 
solutely trustworthy. Deacons are 12 
only to be married once, and they 
must manage their children and 
households properly. For those 13 
who do good service as deacons win 
a good position for themselves as 
well as great freedom in the faith 
of Christ Jesus. 

Though I hope to come to you 14 
before long, I am writing to you 
in this way, in case I am detained, 15 
to let you see how people ought 
to behave within the household of 
God ; it is the church of the living 
God, the pillar and bulwark of the 



I. TIMOTHEUS IV, V 



16 Truth. And who does not admit 
how profound is the divine truth 
of our religion ? — it is He who was 
** manifest in the flesh, 
vindicated by the Spirit, 
seen by the angels, 
preached among the nations, 
believed on throughout the world, 
taken up to glory." 
4 But in later days, the Spirit 
distinctly declares, certain people 
will rebel against the faith; they 
will listen to spirits of error and to 
the doctrines that daemons teach 

2 through plausible sophists who are 

3 seared in conscience — men who 
prohibit marriage and insist on 
abstinence from foods which God 
created for believing men, who 
understand the Truth, to partake 

4 of with thanksgiving. Anything 
God has created is good, and 
nothing is to be tabooed — provided 

5 it is eaten with thanksgiving, for 
then it is consecrated by the 
prayer said over it. 

6 Lay this before the brotherhood, 
and you will be an excellent minis- 
ter of Christ Jesus, brought up on 
the truths of the faith and on the 
lessons of the good doctrine you 

7 have already followed. Shut your 
mind against these profane, drivel- 
ling myths ; train for the rehgious 

8 Ufe. The training of the body is 
of small service, but religion is of 
service in all directions; it con- 
tains the promise of life both for 

9 the present and for the future. It 
is a sure word, it deserves all 

10 praise, that " we toil and strive * 
because our hope is fixed upon 
the hving God, the Saviour of all 
men " — of believers in particular. 

* Reading ay (ouiCSfMeOa with 5^* A C G K, 
etc. The context requires an aggressive, 
active verb. The " sure words " all have a 
more or less eschatological outlook. 



Give these orders and teach these 11 
lessons. Let no one slight you 12 
because you are a youth, but set 
the believers an example of speech, 
behaviour, love, faith, and purity. 
Attend to your Scripture-reading, 13 
your preaching, and your teaching, 
till I come. You have a gift that 14 
came to you transmitted by the 
prophets, when the presbytery laid 
their hands upon you; do not 
neglect that gift. Attend to these 15 
duties, let them absorb you, so that 
all men may note your progress. 
Watch yourself and watch your 16 
teaching; stick to your work; 
if you do that, you will save your 
hearers as well as yourself. 

Never censure an older man 5 
harshly ; appeal to him as a father. 
Treat younger men like brothers, 
older women like mothers, younger 2 
women like sisters — with perfect 
propriety. 

Widows who really need it must 3 
be supported from the funds. 
(When a widow has children or 4 
grandchildren, they must learn 
that the first duty of religion is to 
their own household, and that they 
should make some return to those 
who have brought them up. In 
God's sight this is an acceptable 
thing.) The really forlorn widow 5 
has her hope fixed on God, night 
and day she is at her prayers and 
supplications; whereas the widow 6 
who plunges into dissipation is dead 
before ever she dies. So lay down 7 
the following rules, to prevent any 
reproach being incurred. Who- 8 
ever does not provide for his own 
relatives and particularly for his 
own family, has repudiated the 
faith : he is worse than an infidel. 
No one under sixty is to be put 9 
on the church's list of wddows; 
and she must have been only once 

263 



I. TIMOTHEUS VI 



10 married, she must have a reputa- 
tion for good service, as a woman 
who has brought up children, shown 
hospitahty, washed the feet of 
the saints, reheved distress, and 
interested herself in all good works. 

11 Refuse to put young widows on the 
hst, for when their wanton desires 
alienate them from Christ, they 

12 want to marry and thus are 
guilty of breaking their first troth 

13 to Him. Besides, they become 
idle unconsciously * by gadding 
about from one house to another — 
and not merely idle but gossips 
and busybodies, repeating things 
they have no right to mention. 

14 So I prefer young widows to marry 
again, to bear children, to look 
after their households, and not to 
afford our opponents any chance of 

15 reviling us. As it is, some widows 
have already turned after Satan. — 

16 Any believer, man or woman, who 
has widowed relatives, must give 
them relief; the church is not to 
be burdened with them; she has 
to relieve the widows who really 
need relief. 

17 Presbyters who are efficient presi- 
dents are to be considered worthy 
of ample remuneration, particularly 
those who have the task of preach- 

18 ing and teaching : Scripture says, 
You must not muzzle an ox wJien he 
is treading the grain, and A work- 
man deserves his wages, 

19 Never let any charge be brought 
against a presbyter, unless it is 
certified by two or three witnesses. 

20 Those who are guilty of sin you 
must expose in public, to over- 
awe the others. 

21 In the presence of God and the 

♦ I accept the conjecture \av9dvovcn for 
Uie fiavddvovci of the canonical text, which 
makes the grammatical construction very 
awkward. 

264 



Lord Jesus Christ and the elect 
angels, I adjure you to be unpreju- 
diced in carrying out these orders; 
be absolutely impartial. 

Never be in a hurry to ordain a 22 
presbyter; do not make yourself 
responsible for the sins of another 
man — keep your own life pure.f 
Some people's sins are notorious 24 
and call for judgment, but in some 
cases sin only comes out afterwards. 
Good works are equally conspi- 25 
cuous ; and even when they are not, 
they cannot escape notice for ever. 

Let all servants who are under 6 
the yoke of slavery remember that 
their masters are entitled to per- 
fect respect — otherwise it will be 
a scandal to the Name of God and 
to our doctrine. Those who have 2 
Christian believers as their masters 
must not take liberties with them 
because they are brothers; they 
must be all the better servants 
because those who get the good 
of their service are behevers and 
beloved. 

This is what you are to teach 
and preach. Anyone who teaches 3 
novelties and refuses to fall in with 
the sound words of our Lord Jesus 
Christ and the doctrine that talHes 
with piety, is a conceited, ignorant 4 
creature, with a morbid passion 
for controversy and argument 
which only leads to envy, dissen- 
sion, insults, insinuations, and con- 5 
stant friction between people who 
are depraved in mind and de- 
prived of the Truth. They imagine 
religion is a paying concern. And 6 
so it is — provided it goes with a 

f The words, " Give up being a total 
abstainer; take a little wine for the sake 
of your stomach and your frequent 
attacks of illness," which follow, are either 
a marginal gloss or misplaced. 



I. TIMOTHEUS VI 



7 contented spirit ; for we bring 
nothing into the worid, and we can 

8 take nothing out of it. If we have 
food and clothes, we must be con- 

9 tent with that. Those who are 
eager to be rich get tempted and 
trapped in many senseless and 
pernicious propensities that drag 
men down to ruin and destruction. 

10 For love of money is the root of all 
mischief; it is by aspiring to be 
rich that certain individuals have 
gone astray from the faith and 
found themselves pierced with many 

11 a pang of remorse. Shun that, 
O man of God, aim at integrity, 
piety, faith, love, stedfastness, and 

12 suavity ; fight in the good fight of 
the faith, secure that hfe eternal to 
which you were called when you 
voiced the good confession in the 

13 presence of many witnesses. In 
the presence of God who is the 
Life of all, and of Christ Jesus who 
testified to the good confession be- 
fore Pontius Pilate, I charge you 

14 to keep your commission free from 
stain, free from reproach, till the 
appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ 

15 — which will be brought about in 
due time by that blessed and only 



Sovereign, King of kings and Lord 
of lords, who alone has immortality, 16 
who dwells in hght that none can 
approach, whom no man has ever 
seen or can see. To him be honour 
and eternal power: Amen. 

Charge the rich of this world not 17 
to be supercilious, and not to fix 
their hopes on so uncertain a thing 
as riches but on the living God who 
richly provides us with all the 
enjoyments of Hfe; tell them to be 18 
bountiful, rich in good works, open- 
handed and generous, amassing 19 
right good * treasure for them- 
selves in the world to come, in 
order to secure the life which is life 
indeed. 

O Timotheus, keep the securities 20 
of the faith intact : avoid the 
profane jargon and contradictions 
of what is falsely called * Know- 
ledge.' Certain individuals have 21 
failed in the faith by professing 
that. 

Grace be with you. [Amen.] 

♦ For eefji4\iov I accept the attractive 
conjecture 6cfia xiav, in view of the close 
parallel in Tobit iv. 9-10 (0eVa yap ayaOhv 
dricravpi^eis creavrcf els rj/jLepav audyKTis • 5i6ri 
iKetiiioavvri 4k davdrov ^ixrat). 



266 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO 

TIMOTHEUS 



1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus 
by the will of God in the ser- 
vice of the Life he has promised in 

2 Christ Jesus — to his beloved son 
Timotheus : grace, mercy, peace, 
from God the Father and Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 

3 I render thanks to God, the God 
of my fathers whom I worship with 
a pure conscience, as I mention you 

4 constantly in my prayers. When 
I recall the tears you shed when 
we parted, I long by night and day 
to see you again. That would fill 

5 me with joy, for I am reminded of 
your sincere faith, a faith which 
dwelt first in your grandmother 
Lois and your mother Eunice, as 
it dwells (I feel sure) in yourself. 

6 Hence I would remind you to re- 
kindle the divine gift which you 
received when my hands were laid 

7 upon you ; for God has not given us 
a timid spirit but a spirit of power 

8 and love and discipline. So do not 
be ashamed to testify to our Lord, 
and do not be ashamed of a prisoner 
of the Lord like me; join me in 
bearing suffering for the gospel by 

9 the power of the God who has saved 
us and called us to a life of consecra- 
tion — not for anything we have done 
but because he chose to do it him- 
self, by the grace which he gave us 

10 ages ago in Christ Jesus and has 
now revealed in the appearance of 
our Saviour Christ Jesus, who has 
put down death and brought life 
and immortality to light by the 

11 gospel. Of that gospel I have been 

266 



appointed a herald and an apostle 
and a teacher, and this is why I 12 
am suffering. Still, I am not 
ashamed of it; I know whom I 
have trusted and I am certain he 
is able to keep what I have put into 
his hands till the great Day. 

Model yourself on the sound 13 
instruction you have had from me 
in the faith and love of Christ Jesus. 
Keep the great securities of your 14 
faith intact, by aid of the holy 
Spirit that dwells within us. You 15 
are aware that all the Asiatics have 
discarded me, including Phygelus 
and Hermogenes. May the Lord 16 
show favour to the household of 
Onesiphorus, for many a time he 
braced me up ; he was not ashamed 
of my imprisonment — no, he made 17 
eager search for me when he reached 
Rome, and he found me (may he 18 
find favour with the Lord on the 
great Day ! The Lord grant it !). 
And you know very well what a 
help he was to me in Ephesus. 

Now, my son, be strong in the 2 
grace of Christ Jesus, and trans- 2 
mit the instructions I gave you in 
presence of many witnesses to 
trustworthy men, that they may 
be competent to teach others. Join 3 
the ranks of those who bear suffer- 
ing, like a loyal soldier of Christ 
Jesus. No soldier gets entangled 4 
in civil pursuits; his aim is to 
satisfy his commander. Again, a 5 
competitor in the games is not 
crowned unless he observes the rules. 
The farmer who has done the work 6 



II. TIMOTHEUS III 



must have the first share of the 

7 fruit. Think what I mean ! The 
Lord will help you to understand 
perfectly. 

8 Never forget " Jesus Christ risen 
from the dead, descended from 

9 David " — ^that is my gospel, for 
which I have to suffer imprison- 
ment as if I were a criminal. (But 
there is no prison for the word 

10 of God.) All I endure is for the 
sake of the elect, to let them get 
their share of the salvation of 
Christ Jesus and also of eternal 

11 glory. It is a sure word, that 

"If we have died with him, we 
will live with him, 

12 if we endure, then we will reign 

with him, 
if we disown him, then he will 
disown us, 

13 if we are faithless, he remains 

faithful "— 
for he cannot be untrue to himself. 

14 Remind men of this : adjure 
them before the Lord not to bandy 
arguments — no good comes out of 
that, it only means the undoing 

15 of your audience. Do your utmost 
to let God see that you at least are 
a sound workman, with no need to 
be ashamed of the way you handle 

16 the word of the Truth. Avoid 
all that profane jargon, for it 
leads people still further into irre- 

17 ligion, and their doctrine spreads 
like a gangrene. So it is with 

18 Hymenaeus and Philetus ; they 
have failed in the Truth by arguing 
that the resurrection has taken 
place already, and they are under- 

10 mining some people's faith. But 
the solid foundation laid by God 
remains, and this is its inscription : 

the Lord knows who are his, 
and 

* let everyone who names the 
name of the Lord give up evil.' 



In any great house there are indeed 20 
vessels not only of gold and silver 
but also of wood and clay, some 
for noble, some for menial service. 
If one will only keep clear of the 21 
latter, he will be put to noble use, 
he will be consecrated and useful 
to the Owner of the House, he will 
be set apart for good work of all 
kinds. So shun the lusts of youth 22 
and aim at integrity, faith, love 
and peace, in the company of those 
who invoke the Lord out of a pure 
heart. Shut your mind against 23 
foolish, popular controversy; be 
sure that only breeds strife. And 24 
the Lord's servant must not be a 
man of strife ; he must be kind to 
everybody, a skilled teacher, a man 
who will not resent injuries; he 26 
must be gentle in his admonitions 
to the opposition — God may per- 
haps let them change their mind 
and admit the Truth ; they may 26 
come to their senses again and 
escape the snare of the devil, as 
they are brought back to life by 
God to do his will. 

CHAP. 

Mark this, there are hard times 3 
coming in the last days. For men 2 
will be selfish, fond of money, boast- 
ful, haughty, abusive, disobedient 
to their parents, ungrateful, ir- 
reverent, callous, relentless, scur- 3 
rilous, dissolute, and savage ; they 
will hate goodness, they will be 4 
treacherous, reckless and conceited, 
preferring pleasure to God — for 5 
though they keep up a form of 
religion, they will have nothing to 
do with it as a force. Avoid all 
such. Some of them worm their 6 
way into families and get hold of 
the women-folk who feel crushed 
by the burden of their sins — way- 
ward creatures of impulse, who are 7 

267 



II. TIMOTHEUS IV 



always curious to learn and never 
able to attain the knowledge of the 

8 Truth. For these guides of theirs 
are hostile to the Truth, just as 
Jannes and Jambres were hostile 
to Moses ; they are depraved in 
mind and useless for all pur- 

9 poses of faith. However, they 
will get no further, for their aber- 
ration will be detected by every- 
one, as was the case with these 
magicians. 

10 Now you have followed my teach- 
ing, my practice, my aims, my faith, 
my patience, my love, my stedfast- 

11 ness, my persecutions, my sufferings 
— all that befell me at Antioch, 
Iconium and Lystra, all the persecu- 
tions I had to undergo, from which 

12 the Lord rescued me. Yes, and all 
who want to live the religious life 
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 

13 Bad characters and impostors will 
go from bad to worse, deceiving 
others and deceived themselves; 

14 but hold you to what you have been 
taught, hold to your convictions, 
remember who your teachers were, 

16 remember you have known from 
childhood the sacred writings that 
can impart saving wisdom by faith 

16 in Christ Jesus. All scripture is 
inspired by God and profitable for 
teaching, for reproof, for amend- 

17 ment, and for moral discipline, to 
make the man of God proficient 
and equip him for good work of 
every kind, 

4 In the presence of God and of 
Christ Jesus who will judge the 
living and the dead, in the light of 
his appearance and his reign, I ad- 

2 jure you to preach the word ; keep 
at it in season and out of season, 
refuting, checking, and exhorting 
men; never lose patience with 
them, and never give up your teach- 

8 ing, for the time will come when 
268 



people will decline to be taught 
sound doctrine and will accumulate 
teachers to suit themselves and 
tickle their own fancies ; they will 4 
give up listening to the Truth and 
turn to myths. 

Whatever happens, be self-pos- 5 
sessed, flinch from no suffering, do 
your wqrk as an evangelist, and 
discharge all your duties as a 
minister. 

The last drops of my own sacri- 6 
fice are falling ; my time to go has 
come. I have fought in the good 7 
fight; I have run my course; I 
have kept the faith. Now the 8 
crown of a good life awaits me, 
with which the Lord, that just 
Judge, will reward me on the great 
Day — and not only me but all who 
have loved and longed for his 
appearance. 

Do your best to come soon to 9 
me, for Demas, in his love for this 10 
world, has deserted me and gone 
to Thessalonica ; Crescens is off 
to Gaul, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke 11 
is the only one who is with me. 
Pick up Mark and bring him 
along with you, for he is of great 
use in helping me. (I have had 12 
to send Tychicus to Ephesus.) 
When you come, bring the mantle IS 
I left at Troas with Carpus, also 
my books, and particularly my 
paper. 

Alexander the blacksmith has 14 
done me a lot of harm : the Lord 
will pay him hack for what he has 
done (beware of him), for he has 15 
been bitterly hostile to anything 
I have said. The first time I had 16 
to defend myself, I had no sup- 
porters; everyone deserted me. 
God grant it may not be brought 
up against them ! But the Lord 17 
supported me and gave me strength 
to make a full statement of the 



II. TIMOTHEUS IV 



gospel and let all the heathen hear 
it. I was rescued from the jaws of 

18 the lion. The Lord will rescue me 
from every assault of evil, he will 
bring me safe to his own realm in 
heaven. To him be glory for ever 
and ever ! Amen. 

19 Salute Prisca and Aquila and the 
household of Onesiphorus. 



Erastus stayed on at Corinth : 20 
I left Trophimus ill at Miletus. 
Do your best to come before winter. 21 

Eubulus salutes you; so do 
Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all 
the brotherhood. 

The Lord Jesus be with your 22 
spirit. 

Grace be with you all. 



909 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO 



TITUS 



1 Paul a servant of God and an 
apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith 
of God's elect and for their know- 
ledge of the Truth that goes with 

2 a religious life, serving in hope 
of the life eternal which God, who 

3 never lies, promised ages ago — he 
gave effect to his word in due time 
by a proclamation with which I 
have been entrusted by command 

4 of God our Saviour : — ^to Titus my 
lawful son in a faith we hold in 
common; grace and peace from 
God the Father and Christ Jesus 
our Saviour. 

5 I left you behind in Crete in 
order to finish putting things right 
and to appoint presbyters in every 

6 town as I told you, men who are 
above reproach, only once married, 
with children who believe and who 
are not liable to the charge of 
being profligate or insubordinate. 

7 [For a bishop must be above re- 
proach — he is a steward of God's 
house — he must not be presump- 
tuous or hot-tempered or a drunkard 
or violent or addicted to pilfering; 

8 he must be hospitable, a lover of 
goodness, master of himself, a just 
man, a religious man, and ab- 

9 stemious ; he must hold by the 
sure truths of doctrine so as to be 
able to give instruction in sound 
doctrine and refute objections 

10 raised by any.] * For there are 
plenty of insubordinate creatures 

* This passage seems to have been 
added, rather awkwardly, to the original 
text. 
270 



who impose on people with their 
empt}^ arguments, particularly those 
who have come over from Judaism ; 
they must be silenced, for they 11 
are undermining whole families by 
teaching objectionable doctrine for 
the base end of making money. It 12 
has been said by one of them- 
selves, by a prophet of their own, 
that — 
" Cretans are always liars, evil 

beasts, lazy gluttons." 
That is a true statement. So deal 13 
sharply with them, to make them 
sound in the faith instead of 14 
studying Jewish myths and rules 
laid down by men who have dis- 
covered the Truth. For the pure 15 
all things are pure, but nothing 
is pure for the polluted and un- 
believing ; their very mind and con- 
science are polluted. They profess 16 
to know God but they deny him 
by their deeds; they are detest- 
able, disobedient, and useless for 
good work of any kind. 



You must instruct people in 2 
what is due to sound doctrine. Tell 2 
the older men to be temperate, 
serious, masters of themselves, 
sound in faith, in love, and in sted- 
fastness. Tell the older women 3 
also to be reverent in their de- 
meanour and not to be slanderers 
or slaves to drink; they must 
give good counsel, so that the 4 
young women may be trained to 
love their husbands and children, 



TITUS III 



5 to be mistress of themselves, chaste, 
domestic, kind, and submissive to 
their husbands — otherwise it will 

6 be a scandal to the gospel. Tell 
the young men also to be masters 

7 of themselves at all points ; set 
them an example of good conduct ; 
be sincere and serious in your teach- 

8 ing, let your words be sound and 
such that no exception can be taken 
to them, so that the opposite side 
may be confounded by finding no- 
thing that they can say to our dis- 

9 credit. Tell servants to be sub- 
missive to their masters and to give 
them satisfaction all round, not to 
be refractory, not to embezzle, 

10 but to prove themselves truly 
faithful at all points, so as to be an 
ornament to the doctrine of God 

11 our Saviour in all respects. For 
the grace of God has appeared to 

12 save all men, and it schools us to 
renounce irreligion and worldly 
passions and to live a life of self- 
mastery, of integrity, and of piety 

13 in this present world, awaiting the 
blessed hope of the appearance of 
the Glory of the great God and 

14 of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who 
gave himself up for us to redeem us 
from all iniquity and secure himself 
a clean people with a zest for good 
works. 

15 Tell them all this, exhort and 
reprove, with full authority; let 
no one slight you. 

3 Remind them to be submissive 
to their rulers and authorities ; they 
must obey, they must be ready for 

2 any good work, they must abuse 
no one, they must not quarrel but 
be conciliatory and display perfect 

8 gentleness to all men. For we our- 
selves were once senseless, disobe- 



dient, astray, enslaved to all man- 
ner of passions and pleasures; we 
spent our days in malice and envy, 
we were hateful, and we hated one 
another. But " the goodness and 4 
affection of God our Saviour ap- 
peared; and he saved us, not for 6 
anything we had done but from 
his own pity for us, by the water 
that means regeneration and re- 
newal under the holy Spirit which 6 
he poured upon us richly through 
Jesus Christ our Saviour, that we 7 
might be justified by his grace 
and become heirs to the hope of 
hfe eternal." It is a sure saying. 8 

I want you to insist on this, 
that those who have faith in God 
must profess honest occupations. 
Such counsels are right and good 
for men. But avoid foolish con- 9 
troversy, and let genealogies and 
dissensions and strife over the Law 
alone, for these are fruitless and 
futile. 

After a first and a second warning 10 
have no more to do with a factious 
person ; you may be sure a man like 11 
that is perverted ; he is sinning and 
he knows it. 

Whenever I send Artemas or 12 
Tychicus to you, do your best to 
come to me at Nicopolis, for I have 
decided to winter there. Give a 13 
hearty send-off to Zenas the lawyer 
and ApoUos; see that they want 
for nothing. Our people must 14 
really learn to profess honest occu- 
pations, so as to be able to meet such 
special occasions; they must not 
be idle. 

All who are with me salute you. 16 

Salute those who love us in the 
faith. 
" Grace be with you all. 



271 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO 

PHILEMON 



1 Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ 
and brother Timotheus, to our be- 

2 loved fellow-worker Philemon, to 
our sister Apphia, to our fellow- 
soldier Archippus, and to the church 

3 that meets in your house : grace 
and peace to you from God our 
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

4 I always thank my God when I 
6 mention you in my prayers ; for 

as I hear of your love and loyalty 
to the Lord Jesus and to all the 

6 saints, I pray that by their partici- 
pation in your loyal faith they 
may have a vivid sense of how 
much good we * Christians can 
attain. 

7 I have had great joy and en- 
couragement over your love, my 
brother, over the way you have 
refreshed the hearts of the saints. 

8 Hence, although in Christ I would 
feel quite free to order you to do 

9 your duty, I prefer to appeal to you 
on the ground of love. Well then, 
as Paul the old man, who now-a- 
days is a prisoner for Christ Jesus, 

10 I appeal to you on behalf of my 
spiritual son born while I was in 

11 prison. It is Onesimus ! Once you 
found him a worthless character, but 
now-a-days he is worth something 

12 to you and me. I am sending him 
back to you, and parting with my 

• Reading r]fuv instead of vfuy. As 
Lightfoot observes, *' scribes would be 
strongly tempted to alter ri/xtu into v/mp 
from a misapprehension of the sense, and 
a wish to apply the words to Philemon 
and his household." 
272 



very heart. I would have liked to 
keep him beside me, that as your 
deputy he might serve me during my 
imprisonment for the gospel; but 
I did not want to do anything with- 
out your consent, so that your good- 
ness to me might come of your own 
free will, without any appearance 
of constraint. 

Perhaps this was why you and 
he were parted for a while, that you 
might get him back for good, no 
longer a mere slave but something 
more than a slave — a beloved 
brother; especially dear to me but 
how much more to you as a man 
and as a Christian I You count me 
a partner? Then receive him as 
you would receive me, and if he has 
cheated you of any money or owes 
you any sum, put that down to my 
account. This is in my own hand- 
writing : ' I Paul promise to refund 
it ' — not to mention that you owe 
me, over and above, your very 
soul. Come, brother, let me have 
some return from you in the Lord I 
Refresh my heart in Christ. 

I send you this letter relying on 
your obedience; I know you will 
do even more than I tell you. And 
get quarters ready for me, for I am 
hoping that by your prayers I will 
be restored to you. 

Epaphras my fellow-prisoner in 
Christ Jesus salutes you. So do 
Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and 
Luke, my fellow-workers. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
be with your spirit. Amen. 



13 



14 



16 
16 

17 
18 

19 

20 

21 
22 



23 

24 



25 



THE EPISTLE TO THE 



HEBREWS 



oHir. 



1 Many were the forms and fashions 
in which God spoke of old to 

2 our fathers by the prophets, but 
in these days at the end he has 
spoken to us by a Son — a Son 
whom he appointed heir of the 
universe as it was by him that 

8 he created the world. He, reflect- 
ing God's bright glory and stamped 
with God's own character, sustains 
the universe with his word of power. 
When he had secured our purifi- 
cation from sins, he sat down at 
the right hand of the Majesty on 

4 high. And thus he is superior to the 
angels, as he has inherited a Name 

5 superior to theirs. For to what 
angel did God ever say, 

* Thou art my son^ 

to-day have I become thy father ' / 
Or again, 

* / will be a father to him, 
and he will be a son to me* ^ 

6 And further, when introducing the 
Firstborn into the world, he says, 

* Let all God's angels worship him,^ 

7 While he says of angels, 

* Who makes his angels into winds, 
his servants into flames of fire,* 

8 he says of the Son, 

* God is thy throne for ever and ever, 
thy royal sceptre is the sceptre of 

equity : 

9 thou hast loved justice and hated 

lawlessness^ * 

therefore God, thy God, has con- 
secrated thee 

with the oil of rejoicing beyond thy 
comrades ' — 

* Reading avo/xiav instead of kSiKlav, 



and, 10 

' Thou didst found the earth at the 
beginning, Lord, 

and the heavens are the work of thy 
hands ; 

they will perish, but thou re- 11 
mainest, 

they will all be worn out like a 
garment, 

thou wilt roll them up like a mantle 12 
and t they will be changed, 

but thou art the same, 

and thy years will never faiV 
To what angel did he ever say, 13 

* Sit at my right hand, 

till I put your enemies under your 
feet ' ? 
Are not all angels merely spirits in 14 
the divine service, commissioned for 
the benefit of those who are to in- 
herit salvation ? 

We must therefore pay closer 2 
attention to what we have heard, 
in case we drift away. For if the 2 
divine word spoken by angels held 
good, if transgression and disobedi- 
ence met with due punishment in 
every case, how shall we escape 8 
the penalty for neglecting a salva- 
tion which was originally proclaimed 
by the Lord himself and guaranteed 
to us by those who heard him, while 4 
God corroborated their testimony 
with signs and wonders and a variety 
of miraculous powers, distributing 
the holy Spirit as it pleased him. 

For the world to come, of which 6 
I am speaking, was not put under 

t Omitting [wj ifxdriov\ which has been 
repeated from the previous line. 

273 



HEBREWS III 



6 the control of angels. One writer, 
as we know, has affirmed, 

What is man, that thou art mind- 
ful of him ? 
or the son of man, that thou 
carest for him ? 

7 For a little while thou hast put 

him lower than the angels, 
crowning him with glory and 
honour, 

8 putting all things under his feet. 
Now by putting all things under him 
the writer meant to leave nothing 
out of his control. But, as it is, we 
do not yet see all things controlled by 

9 man; what we do see is Jesus who 
was put lower than the angels for a 
little while to suffer death, and who 
has been crowned with glory and 
honour that by God's grace he might 

10 taste death for everyone. In bring- 
ing many sons to glory, it was befit- 
ting that He for whom and by whom 
the universe exists, should perfect 
the Pioneer of their salvation by 

11 suffering. For sanctifier and sanc- 
tified have all one origin. That is 
why he is not ashamed to call them 

12 brothers, saying, 

' / will proclaim thy name to my 

brothers, 
in the midst of the church I will 
sing of thee,^ 

13 and again, 

' / will put my trust in him,'' 
and again, 

' Here am I and the children God 
has given me J 

14 Since the children then share blood 
and flesh, he himself participated 
in their nature, so that by d5ang 
he might crush him who wields the 
power of death (that is to say, the 

15 devil) and release from thraldom 
those who lay under a life-long 

16 fear of death. (For of course it is 
not angels that he succours, it is 

17 the 0^ spring of Abraham.) He had 

274 



to resemble his brothers in every 
respect, in order to prove a mer- 
ciful and faithful high priest in 
things divine, to expiate the sins 
of the People. It is as he suffered 18 
by his temptations that he is able 
to help the tempted. 

CHAP. 

Holy brothers, you who partici- 3 
pate in a heavenly calling, look at 
Jesus then at the apostle and high 
priest of our confession ; he is faith- 2 
f ul to Him who appointed him. For 
while Moses also was faithful in every 
department of God's house, Jesus has 3 
been adjudged greater glory than 
Moses, inasmuch as the founder of 
a house enjoys greater honour than 
the house itself. (Every house is 4 
founded by someone, but God is 
the founder of all.) Besides, while 5 
Moses was faithful in every depart- 
ment of God's house as an attendant 
— by way of witness to the coming 
revelation — Christ is faithful as a 6 
Son over God's house. 

Now we are this house of God, if 
we will only keep confident and 
proud of our hope.* Therefore, as 7 
the holy Spirit says, 

To-day, when you hear his twice, 
harden not your hearts as at the 8 

Provocation, 
on the day of the Temptation in 
the desert, 
where your fathers put me to the 9 
proof, 
and for forty years felt what I 
could do. 
Therefore I grew exasperated with 10 
that generation, 
1 said, ' They are always astray 

in their heart': 
They would not learn my ways ; 

* Omitting yuexpi r4\ovs ^e^alav, which 
has probably been inserted from ver. 14, 
where the same words occur in a similai 
connexion. 



HEBREWS IV, V 



11 $0 I swore in my anger, 

* they shall never enter my Rest.^ 

12 Brothers, take care in case there is 
a wicked, unbeheving heart in any 
of you, moving you to apostatize 

13 from the Hving God. Rather ad- 
monish one another daily, so long 
as this word To-day is uttered, 
that none of you may be deceived 

14 by sin and hardened. For we only 
participate in Christ provided that 
we keep firm to the very end the 
confidence with which we started, 

15 this word ever sounding in our ears, 

To-day, when you hear his voice, 
harden not your hearts as at the 
Provocation, 

16 Who heard and yet provoked him? 
Was it not all who left Egypt under 

17 the leadership of Moses ? And with 
whom was he exasperated for forty 
years P Was it not with those 
who sinned, whose corpses fell in the 

18 desert ? And to whom did he swear 
that they would never enter his Rest ? 
To whom but those who disobeyed ? 
Thus we see it was owing to unbelief 

4 that they could not enter. Well 
then, as the promise of entrance 
is still left to us, let us be afraid 
of anyone being judged to have 

2 missed it. For we have had the 
good news as well as they; only, 
the message they heard was of no 
use to them, because it did not 
meet with * faith in the hearers. 

3 For we do enter the Rest by our 
faith : according to his word, 

As I swore in my anger, 
they shall never enter my Rest — 
although his works were all over by 

4 the foundation of the world. For he 
says this somewhere about the 
seventh day: And God rested from 
all his works on the seventh day, 

* Reading (nryK€Kepa<rfi4vo5 or ffvyKCKpa- 
fifvos with K, the Old Latin, the Peshitto, 
etc. 



And again in this passage, they shall 5 
never enter my Rest, Since then it 6 
is reserved for some to enter it, and 
since those who formerly got the 
good news failed to enter owing to 
their disobedience, he again fixes 7 
a day; To-day — as he says in 
* David ' after so long an interval, 
and as has been already quoted — 

To-day, when you hear his voice, 

harden not your hearts. 
Thus if Joshua had given them 8 
Rest, God would not speak later 
about another day. There is a 9 
sabbath-Rest then reserved still for 
the People of God (for once a man 10 
enters his rest, he rests from work 
just as God did). 

Let us be eager then to enter that 11 
Rest, in case anyone falls into the 
same sort of disobedience. For the 12 
Logos of God is a living thing, 
active and more cutting than any 
sword with double edge, penetrating 
to the very division of soul and 
spirit, joints and marrow — scrutin- 
izing the very thoughts and concep- 
tions of the heart. And no created 13 
thing is hidden from him ; all things 
lie open and exposed before the eyes 
of him with whom we have to 
reckon. 

As we have a great high priest, 14 
then, who has passed through the 
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us 
hold fast to our confession ; for ours 15 
is no high priest who is incapable of 
sympathizing with our weaknesses, 
but one who has been tempted in 
every respect like ourselves, yet 
without sinning. So let us approach 16 
the throne of grace with confidence, 
that we may receive mercy and 
find grace to help us in the hour 
of need. 

Every high priest who is selected 5 
from men and appointed to act on 

275 



HEBREWS VI 



OHAP 



behalf of men in things divine, 
offering gifts and sacrifices for sins, 

2 can deal gently with those who err 
through ignorance, since he him- 

3 self is beset with weakness — which 
obliges him to present offerings for 
his own sins as well as for those of 

4 the People. Also, it is an office 
which no one elects to take for him- 
self ; he is called to it by God, just 

5 as Aaron was. Similarly Christ was 
not raised to the glory of the high 
priesthood by himself but by Him 
who declared to him, 

Thou art my son, 

to-day have I become thy father, 

6 Just as elsewhere he says, 

Thou art a 'priest for ever, with the 
rank of Melchizedek, 

7 In the days of his flesh, with bitter 
cries and tears, he offered prayers 
and supplications to Him who was 
able to save him from death; and 
he was heard because of his godly 

8 fear. Thus, Son though he was, 
he learned by all he suffered how 

9 to obey, and by being thus perfected 
he became the source of eternal 

10 salvation for all who obey him, be- 
ing designated by God high priest 
with the rank of Melchizedek, 

11 On this point I have a great 
deal to say, which it is hard to make 
intelligible to you. For you have 

12 grown dull of hearing. Though by 
this time you should be teaching 
other people, you still need some- 
one to teach you once more the 
rudimentary principles of the divine 
revelation. You are in need of 

13 milk, not of solid food. (For any- 
one who is fed on milk is un- 
skilled in moral truth; he is a 

14 mere babe. Whereas solid food 
is for the mature, for those who 
have their faculties trained by 
exercise to distinguish good and 
evil.) 

276 



Let us pass on then to what 6 
is mature, leaving elementary 
Christian doctrine behind, instead 
of laying the foundation over again 
with repentance from dead works, j 
with faith in God, with instruction S 
about ablutions and the laying on 
of hands, about the resurrection of 
the dead and eternal punishment. 
With God's permission, we will take 3 
this step.* For in the case of people 4 
who have been once enlightened, 
who tasted the heavenly Gift, who 
participated in the holy Spirit, who 5 .. 
tasted the goodness of God's word 
and the powers of the world to 
come, and then fell away — it is 6| 
impossible to make them repent 
afresh, since they crucify the Son 
of God in their own persons and 
hold him up to obloquy. For land 7 
which absorbs the rain that often 
falls on it, and bears plants that are 
useful to those for whom it is tilled, 
receives a blessing from God; 
whereas, if it produces thorns and 8 
thistles, it is reprobate and on the 
verge of being cursed — its fate is to 
be burned. 

Though I say this, beloved, I feel 9 
sure you will take the better course 
that means salvation. God is not 10 
unfair; he will not forget what you 
have done, or the love you have 
shown for his sake in ministering, 
as you still do, to the saints. It is 11 
my heart's desire that each of you 
would prove equally keen upon real- 
izing your full hope to the very end, 12 
so that instead of being slack you 
may imitate those who inherit the 
promises by their stedfast faith. 
For in making a promise to Abra- 13 
ham God sivore by himself (since he 
could swear by none greater), I will 14 
indeed bless you and multiply you, 

* Reading iroi-fiffofji.ev with N B, the Latin ^ 
version, etc., instead of Troiiia'ujMitv. |B 



HEBREWS VII 



15 Thus it was that Abraham by his 
stedfastness obtained what he had 

16 been promised. For as men swear 
by a greater than themselves, and as 
an oath means to them a guarantee 

17 that ends any dispute, God, in his 
desire to afford the heirs of the 
Promise a special proof of the solid 
character of his purpose, interposed 

18 with an oath ; so that by these two 
solid facts (the Promise and the 
Oath), where it is impossible for God 
to be false, we refugees might have 
strong encouragement to seize the 

19 hope set before us, anchoring the 
soul to it safe and sure, as it enters 
the inner Presence behind the rjeil. 

20 There Jesus entered for us in ad- 
vance, when he became high priest 
for ever with the rank of Melchizedek. 

7 For Melchizedek, the king of Saleniy 
a priest of the Most High God, 
who met Abraham on his return 
from the slaughter of the kings and 

2 blessed him — who had a tenth part 
of everything assigned him by 
Abraham — this Melchizedek is prim- 
arily a king of righteousness (that is 
the meaning of his name); then, 
besides that, king of Salem (which 

3 means, king of peace). He has 
neither father nor mother nor 
genealogy, neither a beginning to 
his days nor an end to his life, but, 
resembhng the Son of God, con- 
tinues to be priest permanently. 

4 Now mark the dignity of this man. 
The patriarch Abraham paid him a 

5 tenth of the spoils. Those sons of 
Levi who receive the priestly office 
are indeed ordered by law to tithe 
the people (that is, their brothers), 
although the latter are descended 

6 from Abraham ; but he who had no 
Levitical genealogy actually tithed 
Abraham and blessed the possessor 

7 of the promises ! (And there is no 
question that it is the inferior who 



is blessed by the superior.) Again, 8 
it is mortal men in the one case who 
receive tithes, while in the other it 
is one of whom the witness is that 
' he lives.' In fact, we might 9 
almost say that even Levi the re- 
ceiver of tithes paid tithes through 
Abraham; for he was still in the 10 
loins of his father when Melchizedek 
met him. Further, if the Levitical 11 
priesthood had been the means of 
reaching perfection (for it was on 
the basis of that priesthood that 
the Law was enacted for the 
People), why was it still necessary 
for another sort of priest to emerge 
with the rank of Melchizedek, instead 
of simply with the rank of Aaron 12 
(for when the priesthood is changed, 
a change of law necessarily follows) ? 
He who is thus described belongs 13 
to another tribe, no member of 
which ever devoted himself to the 
altar ; for it is evident that our 14 
Lord sprang from Judah, and 
Moses never mentioned priesthood 
in connexion with that tribe. This 15 
becomes all the more plain when 
another priest emerges resembling 
Melchizedek, one who has become 16 
a priest by the power of an indis- 
soluble Life and not by the law of an 
external command ; for the witness 17 
to him is, 

Thou art priest for ever, with the 
rank of Melchizedek. 
A previous command is set aside 18 
on account of its weakness and 
uselessness (for the Law made 19 
nothing perfect), and there is in- 
troduced a better Hope, by means 
of which we can draw near to 
God. A better Hope, because it 20 
was not promised apart from an 
oath. Previous priests became 21 
priests apart from any oath, but 
he has an oath from Him who said 
to him, 

277 



HEBREWS VIII 



The Lord has sworn, and he will 

not change his mind, 
thou art a priest for ever. 

22 And this makes Jesus surety for a 

23 superior covenant. Also, while they 
became priests in large numbers, 
since death prevents them from 

24 continuing to serve, he holds his 
priesthood without any successor, 

25 since he continues for ever. Hence 
for all time he is able to save those 
who approach God through him, 
as he is always Uving to intercede 
on their behalf. 

26 Such was the high priest for us, 
saintly, innocent, unstained, lifted 
high above the heavens, far from 

27 all contact with the sinful, one 
who has no need, hke yonder high 
priests, day by day to offer sacri- 
fices first for their own sins and 
then for those of the People — he 
did that once for all in offering up 

28 himself. For the Law appoints 
human beings in their weakness 
to the priesthood ; but the word of 
the Oath appoints a Son who is 
made perfect for ever. 

8 The point* of all this is, we do 
have such a high priest, one who is 
seated at the right hand of the throne 

2 of Majesty in the heavens, and who 
officiates in the sanctuary or true 
tabernacle set up by the Lord and not 

8 by man. Now, as every high priest 
is appointed to offer gifts and sacri- 
fices, he too must have something to 

4 offer. Were he on earth, he would 
not be a priest at all, for there are 
priests already to offer the gifts 

6 prescribed by Law^ (men who serve 
a mere outline and shadow of the 
heavenly — as Moses was instructed, 
when he was about to execute the 
building of the tabernacle : see, God 

* Or, as Coverdale translates, "the pith." 
"All this" means "all the previous argu- 
ment." 
278 



said, that you make everything on the 
pattern shown you upon the mouU' 
tain). As it is, however, the divine 6 
service he has obtained is superior, 
owing to the fact that he mediates 
a superior covenant, enacted with 
superior promises. For if the first 7 
covenant had been faultless, there 
would have been no occasion for a 
second. Whereas God does find fault 8 
with the people of that covenant, 
when he says : 

The day is coming, saith the Lord, 
when I will conclude a new covenant 
with the house of Israel and with 
the house of Judah. 
It will not be on the lines of the 
covenant I made with their 
fathers, 
on the day I took them by the hand 9 

to lead out of Egypt's land; 
for they would not hold to my 

covenant, 
so I let them alone,^ saith the 

Lord. 
This is the covenant I will make 10 
with the house of Israel when that 
day comes, saith the Lord ; 
I will set my laws within their 

mind, 
inscribing them upon their hearts ; 
I will be a God to them, 
and they shall be a People to me ; 
one citizen will no longer teach his 11 

fellow, 
one man will no longer teach his 

brother, 
saying, ^ Know the Lord,"* 
for all will know me, low and high 

together. 
I will be merciful to their iniquities, 12 
and remember their sins no more. 
By saying 'a new covenant,' he 13 
antiquates the first. And whatever 
is antiquated and aged is on the 
verge of vanishing. 

t The same Greek word as is translated 
" neglected " in ii. 3. 



HEBREWS IX 



OKAT. 

9 The first covenant had indeed 
its regulations for worship and a 

2 material sanctuary. A tent was 
set up, the outer tent, containing 
the lampstand, the table, and the 
loaves of the Presence ; this is called 

3 the Holy place. But behind the 
second veil was the tent called 

4 the Holy of HoHes, containing the 
golden altar of incense, and also 
the ark of the covenant covered all 
over with gold, which held the 
golden pot of manna, the rod of 
Aaron that once blossomed, and the 

5 tablets of the covenant ; above this 
were the cherubims of the Glory, 
overshadowing the mercy seat — 
matters which it is impossible for 
me to discuss at present in detail. 

6 Such were the arrangements for 
worship. The priests constantly 
enter the first tent, in the discharge 

7 of their ritual duties, but the second 
tent is entered only once a year by 
the high priest alone — and it must 
not be without blood, which he 
presents on behalf of himself and 

8 the errors of the People. By this 
the holy Spirit means that the way 
into the Holiest Presence was not 
disclosed so long as the first tent 

9 (which foreshadowed the present 
age) was still standing, with its 
oSerings of gifts and sacrifices 
which cannot possibly make the 
conscience of the worshipper per- 

10 feet, since they relate merely to 
food and drink and a variety of 
ablutions — outward regulations for 
the body, that only hold till the 

11 period of the New Order. But when 
Christ arrived as the high priest of 
the bliss that was to be, he passed 
through the greater and more per- 
fect tent which no hands had made 
(no part, that is to say, of the pre- 

12 sent order), not taking any blood 



of goats and oxen but his own blood, 
and entered once for all into the 
Holy place. He secured an eternal 
redemption. For if the blood of 13 
goats and bulls and the ashes of a 
heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, 
give them a holiness that bears on 
bodily purity, how much more will 14 
the blood of Christ, who in the 
spirit of the eternal offered himself 
as an unblemished sacrifice to God, 
cleanse your conscience from dead 
works to serve a living God ? He 15 
mediates a new covenant for this 
reason, that those who have been 
called may obtain the eternal in- 
heritance they have been promised, 
now that a death has occurred 
which redeems them from the trans- 
gressions involved in the first cove- 
nant. Thus in the case of a will, 16 
the death of the testator must be 
announced. A will only holds in 17 
cases of death; it is never valid 
so long as the testator is alive. 
Hence even the first covenant of 18 
God's will was not inaugurated 
apart from blood; for after Moses 19 
had announced every command in 
the Law to all the people, he took 
the blood of calves and goats, to- 
gether with water, scarlet wool and 
hyssop, sprinkling the book and 
ail the people, and saying, This is 20 
the blood of that covenant which is 
God's command for you. He even 21 
sprinlded with blood the tent and 
all the utensils of worship in the 
same way. In fact, one might 22 
almost say that by Law everything 
is cleansed with blood. No blood 
shed, no remission of sins ! Now, 23 
while the copies of the heavenly 
things had to be cleansed with 
sacrifices like these, the heavenly 
things themselves required nobler 
sacrifices. For Christ has not en- 24 
tered a holy place which human 

279 



HEBREWS X 



hands have made (a mere type of 
the reality !) ; he has entered heaven 
itself, now to appear in the presence 

25 of God on our behalf. Nor was it 
to offer himself repeatedly, Hke the 
high priest entering the holy place 
every year with blood that was 

26 not his own : — for in that case he 
would have had to suffer repeatedly, 
ever since the world was founded. 
Nay, once for all, at the end of the 
world, he has appeared with his 

27 self-sacrifice to abolish sin. And 
just as it is appointed for men 
to die once and after that to be 

28 judged, so Christ, after being once 
sacrificed to bear the sins of many, 
will appear again, not to deal with 
sin but for the saving of those who 
look out* for him. 

10 For as the Law has a mere 
shadow of the bliss that is to be, 
instead of representing the reality 
of that bliss, it can never perfect 
those who draw near with the same 
annual sacrifices that are perpetu- 

2 ally offered. Otherwise, they would 
surely have ceased to be offered; 
for the worshippers, once cleansed, 
would no longer be conscious of 

S sins ! As it is, they are an annual 

4 reminder of sins (for the blood of 
bulls and goats cannot possibly 

5 remove sins !). Hence, on entering 
the world he says, 

Thou hast no desire for sacrifice 
or offering ; 
it is a body thou hast prepared 
for me — 

6 in holocausts and sin-offerings 

thou takest no delight. 

7 So I said, ' Here I come — in the 

roll of the book this is written 
of me — 
I come to do thy will, God,^ 

* Paurs word in PMl. iii. 20; but I trans- 
late " look out " here, in order to suggest the 
antithesis in x. 27. 
280 



He begins by saying, thou hast no 
desire for, thou takest no delight in, 
sacrifices and offerings and holocausts 
and sin-offerings (and these are 
what are offered in terms of the 
Law) ; he then adds. Here I come to 
do thy will. He does away with 
the first in order to establish the 
second. And it is by this will that 
we are consecrated, because Jesus 
Christ once for all has offered up his 
body. 

Again, while every priest f stands 
daily at his service, offering the 
same sacrifices repeatedly, sacri- 
fices which never can take sins 
away — He offered a single sacri- 
fice for sins and then seated him- 
self for all time at the right hand 
of God, to wait until his enemies are 
put under his feet. For by a single 
offering he has made the sanctified 
perfect for all time. Besides, we 
have the testimony of the holy 
Spirit ; for after saying. 

This is the covenant I will make 
with them when that day comes, 
saith the Lord, 

I will set my laws upon their 
hearts, 

inscribing them upon their minds, 
he adds. 

And their sins and breaches of the 
law I will remember no more. 
Now where these are remitted, an 
offering for sin exists no longer. 



10 



11 



12 



13 
14 

15 



16 



17 
18 



Brothers, since we have confi- 19 
dence to enter the holy Presence 
in virtue of the blood of Jesus, by 20 
the fresh, living way which he has 
inaugurated for us through the veil 
(that is, through his flesh), and since 21 
we have a great Priest over the 
house of God, let us draw near with 22 
a true heart, in absolute assurance 
of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean 

t Reading hpehs instead of opx'ep*^** 



HEBREWS XI 



from a bad conscience, and our bodies 

23 washed in pure water; let us hold 
the hope we avow without wavering 
(for we can rely on him who gave 

24 us the Promise) ; and let us consider 
how to stir up one another to love 

25 and good deeds — not ceasing to meet 
together, as is the habit of some, 
but admonishing one another, all 
the more so, as you see the Day com- 

26 ing near. For if we sin deliberately, 
after receiving the knowledge of the 
Truth, there is no longer any sacri- 

27 fice for sins left, nothing but an 
awful outlook of doom, of that 
burning Wrath which will consume 

28 the foes of God. Anyone who has 
rejected the law of Moses dies 
without mercy, on the evidence of two 

29 or of three witnesses. How much 
heavier, do you suppose, will be 
the punishment assigned to him 
who has spurned the Son of God, 
who has profaned the covenant- 
blood with which he was sanctified, 
who has insulted the Spirit of grace ? 

SO We know who said. Vengeance is 
mine, I will exact a requital : and 
again. The Lord will pass sentence on 

31 his people. It is an awful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living 
God. 

32 Recall the former days when, 
after you were enlightened, you en- 
dured a hard struggle of suffering, 

33 partly by being held up yourselves 
to obloquy and anguish, partly by 
making common cause with those 

34 who fared in this way ; for you did 
sympathize with the prisoners, and 
you took the confiscation of your 
own belongings cheerfully, con- 
scious that elsewhere you had higher, 

35 you had lasting, possessions. Now 
do not drop that confidence of 
yours ; it carries with it a rich hope 

86 of reward. Steady patience is 
what you need, so that after doing 



the will of God you may get what 

you have been promised. For in a 37 
little, a very little now. 

The Coming One will arrive with- 
out delay. 

Meantime my just man will live 38 
on by his faith ; 

if he shrinks back, my soul takes 
no delight in him. 
We are not the men to shrink back 39 
and be lost, but to have faith and 
so to win our souls. 

Now faith means we are confident 11 
of what we hope for, convinced of 
what we do not see. It was for 2 
this that the men of old won their 
record. It is by faith we understand 8 
that the world was fashioned by 
the word of God, and thus the 
visible was made out of the in- 
visible. It was by faith that Abel 4 
offered God a richer sacrifice than 
Cain did, and thus won from God 
the record of being * just,' on the 
score of what he gave ; he died, but 
by his faith he is speaking to us 
still. It was by faith that Enoch 5 
was taken to heaven, so that he 
never died (he was not overtaken by 
death, for God had taken him away). 
For before he was taken to heaven, 
his record was that he had satisfied * 
God ; and apart from faith it is im- 6 
possible to satisfy him, for the man 
who draws near to God must believe 
that he exists and that he does 
reward those who seek him. It 7 
was by faith that Noah, after being 
told by God of what was still un- 
seen, reverently constructed an ark 
to save his household ; thus he con- 
demned the world and became heir 
of the righteousness that follows 
faith. It was by faith that Abra- 8 
ham obeyed his call to go forth to a 

* Here, as elsewhere, " satisfy " is used in 
the sense of a serrant giving satisfaction to 
his master. 

281 



HEBREWS XI 



place which he would receive as an 
inheritance; he went forth, al- 
though he did not know where he 
9 was to go. It was by faith that 
he sojourned in the promised land, 
as in a foreign country, residing in 
tents, as did Isaac and Jacob who 
were co-heirs ^vith him of the same 

10 promise ; he was waiting for the City 
with its fixed foundations, whose 

11 builder and maker is God. It 
was by faith that even Sara got 
strength to conceive, bearing a son 
when she was past the age for it — 
because she considered she could 
rely on Him who gave the promise. 

12 Thus a single man, though he was 
physically impotent, had issue in 
number like the stars in heaven, 
countless as the sand on the seashore, 

13 (These all died in faith without 
obtaining the promises; they only 
saw them far away and hailed them, 
owning they were ' strangers and 

14 exiles upon earth.' Now people 
who speak in this way plainly show 
they are in search of a fatherland. 

15 If they thought of the land they 
have left behind, they would have 

16 time to go back, but they really 
aspire to the better land in heaven. 
That is why God is not ashamed to 
be called their God ; he has prepared 

17 a City for them.) It was by faith, 
when Abraham was put to the test, that 
he sacrificed Isaac ; he was ready to 
sacrifice his only son, although he 

18 had received the promises and had 
been told that it is through Isaac 
thai your offspring shall be reckoned 

19 — for he considered God was able 
even to raise men from the dead. 
Hence he did get him back, by what 
was a parable of the resurrection. 

20 It was by faith that Isaac blessed 
Jacob and Esau in connection with 

21 the future. It was by faith that, 
when Jacob was dying, he blessed 

282 



each of the sons of Joseph, bending 
in prayer over the head of his staff. 
It was by faith that Joseph at his 22 
end thought about the exodus of 
the sons of Israel, and gave orders 
about his own bones. It was by 23 
faith that Moses xvas hidden for three 
months after birth by his parents, 
because they saw the child was 
beautiful, and had no fear of the 
royal decree. It was by faith that 24 
Moses refused, when he had grown up, 
to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter ; ill-treatment with God's 25 
people he preferred to the passing 
pleasures of sin, considering obloquy 26 
with the messiah to be richer wealth 
than all Egypt's treasures — for he 
had an eye to the Reward. It was 27 
by faith that he left Egypt, not from 
any fear of the king's wrath ; like one 
who saw the King Invisible, he never 
flinched. It was by faith that he 28 
celebrated the passover and per- 
formed the sprinkling by blood, so 
that the destroying angel might not 
touch Israel's first-born. It was 29 
by faith that they crossed the Red 
Sea like dry land — and when the 
Egyptians attempted it, they were 
drowned. It was by faith that the 30 
walls of Jericho collapsed, after 
being surrounded for only seven 
days. It was by faith that Rahab 31 
the harlot did not perish along with 
those who were disobedient, as she 
had welcomed the scouts peaceably. 

And what more shall I say ? 82 
Time would fail me to tell of 
Gideon, of Barak and Samson and 
Jephthah, of David and Samuel 
and the prophets — men who by 33 
faith conquered kingdoms, adminis- 
tered justice, obtained promises, 
shut the mouth of lions, quenched 84 
the power of fire, escaped the edge 
of the sword, from weakness won 
to strength, proved valiant in war- 



HEBREWS XII 



fare, and routed hosts of foreigners. 

35 Some were given back to their 
womankind, raised from the very- 
dead; others were broken on the 
wheel, refusing to accept release, 
that they might obtain a better 

86 resurrection ; others, again, had to 
experience scoffs and scourging, 

37 aye chains and imprisonment — they 
were stoned,* sawn in two, and 
cut to pieces; they had to roam 
about in sheepskins and goatskins, 

38 forlorn, oppressed, ill-treated (men 
of whom the world was not worthy), 
wanderers in the desert and among 
the hills, in caves and gullies. 

39 They all won their record for 
faith, but the Promise they did 

40 not obtain. God had something 
better in store for us; he would 
not have them perfected apart 
from us. 

12 Therefore, with all this host of 
witnessesf encircling us, we must 
strip off every handicap, strip off sin 
with its clinging folds, to run our 

2 appointed course steadily, our eyes 
fixed upon Jesus as the pioneer and 
the perfection of faith — upon Jesus 
who, in order to reach his own ap- 
pointed joy, steadily endured the 
cross, thinking nothing of its shame, 
and is now seated at the right hand 

3 of the throne of God. Compare him 
who steadily endured all that hos- 
tility from sinful men, so as to keep 
your own hearts from fainting and 

4 failing. You have not had to shed 
blood yet in the struggle against 

5 sin. And have you forgotten the 

* The next word, iireipdadrja-aVf is either 
due to dittography (with the following 
iirpiaericrav) or a corruption of some word 
like itrvpdtrd'ncrav or iiretpdlidTicrav. I have left 
it untranslated. 

t The Greek word is beginning already to 
hover round the special sense of " martyrs " ; 
but the broadei sense is obviously required 
here. 



word of appeal that reasons with 
you as sons ? — 

My son, never make light of the 
Lord's discipline, 

never faint under his reproofs ; 

for the Lord disciplines the man he 6 
loves, 

and scourges every son he receives. 
It is for discipline that you have to 7 
endure. God is treating you as 
sons ; for where is the son who is 
not disciplined by his father ? Dis- 8 
cipline is the portion of all; if you 
get no discipline, then you are not 
sons but bastards. Why, we had 9 
fathers of our flesh to discipline us, 
and we yielded to them ! Shall we 
not far more submit to the Father 
of our spirits, and so live ? For 10 
while their discipline was only for 
a time, and inflicted at their plea- 
sure, he disciplines us for our good, 
that we may share in his own holi- 
ness. Discipline always seems for U 
the time to be a thing of pain, not 
of joy; but those who are trained 
by it reap the fruit of it afterwards 
in the peace of an upright life. So 12 
up with your listless hands ! Streng- 
then your weak knees I And mc^e 13 
straight paths for your feet to walk 
in. You must not let the lame get 
dislocated, but rather make them 
whole. Aim at peace with all — and 14 
at that consecration without which 
no one will ever see the Lord; see 15 
to it that no one misses the grace of 
God, that no root of bitterness grows 
up to he a trouble by contaminating 
all the rest of you; that no one 16 
turns to sexual vice or to a profane 
life as Esau did — Esau, who for a 
single meal parted with his birthright. 
You know how later on, when he 17 
wanted to obtain his inheritance of 
blessing, he was set aside; he got 
no chance to repent, though he tried 
for it with tears. 



HEBREWS XIII 



18 You have not come to what you 
can touch, to flames of fire, to mist 

19 and gloom and stormy blasts, to 
the blare of a trumpet and to a 
Voice whose words made those who 
heard it refuse to hear another 

20 syllable (for they could not bear 
the command, // even a beast touches 
the mountain, it must be stoned) — 

21 indeed, so awful was the sight that 
Moses said, / am terrified and aghast, 

22 You have come to mount Sion, the 
city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in 

23 festal gathering, to the assembly 
of the first-born registered in 
heaven, to the God of all as judge, 
to the spirits of just men made per- 

24 feet, to Jesus who mediates the new 
covenant, and to the sprinkled 
blood whose message is nobler than 

25 Abel's. See that you do not refuse 
to Hsten to His voice. For if they 
failed to escape, who refused to 
listen to their instructor upon 
earth, much less shall we, if we dis- 
card Him who speaks from heaven. 

26 Then his voice shook the earth, but 
now the assurance is, once again I will 
make heaven as well as earth to quake, 

27 That phrase, once again, denotes the 
removal of what is shaken (as no 
more than created), to leave only 

28 what stands unshaken. Therefore 
let us render thanks* that we get 
an unshaken realm; and in this 
way let us worship God acceptably 

29 — but with godly fear j and awe, 
for our God is indeed a consuming 
fire, 

OHAP. 

13 Let your brotherly love con- 

2 tinue. Never forget to be hospit- 
able, for by hospitality some have 

3 entertained angels unawares. Re- 

* Reading cxwMev. 
t Like Jesus himself (v. 7). 
284 



member prisoners as if you wew 
in prison yourselves; remember 
those who are being ill-treated, 
since you too are in the body. 

Let marriage be held in honour 
by all, and keep the marriage-bed 
unstained. God will punish the 
vicious and adulterous. 

Keep your life free from the love 
of money; be content with what 
you have, for He has said. 

Never will I fail you, never will I 
forsake you. 
So that we can say confidently. 

The Lord is my helper, I will not 
be afraid. 

What can men do to me ? 

Remember your leaders, the 
men who spoke the word of God 
to you; look back upon the close 
of their career, and copy their 
faith. 

Jesus Christ is always the same, 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 
Never let yourselves be carried 
away with a variety of novel doc- 
trines; for the right thing is to 
have one's heart strengthened by 
grace, not by the eating of food — 
that has never been any use to 
those who have had recourse to it. 
Our altar is one of which the wor- 
shippers have no right to eat. For 
the bodies of the animals whose 
blood is taken into the holy Place 
by the high priest as a sin-offer- 
ing, are burned outside the camp; 
and so Jesus also suffered outside 
the gate, in order to sanctify the 
people by his own blood. Let us 
go to him outside the camp, then, 
bearing his obloquy (for we have 
no lasting city here below, we seek 
the City to come). And by him let 
us constantly offer praise to God 
as our sacrifice, that is, the fruit of 
lips that celebrate his Name. Do 
not forget beneficence and charity, 



10 
11 



12 
13 
14 
15 

16 



HEBREWS XIII 



either ; these are the kind of sacri- 
fices that are acceptable to God. 

17 Obey your leaders, submit to 
them; for they are alive to the 
interests of your souls, as men who 
will have to account for their trust. 
Let their work be a joy to them 
and not a grief — which would be a 
loss to yourselves. 

18 Pray for me, for I am sure I have 
a clean conscience; my desire is in 
every way to lead an honest life. 

19 I urge you to this all the more, 
that I may get back to you the 
sooner. 

20 May the God of peace who brought 
up from the dead our Lord Jesus, 
the great Shepherd of the sheep, 

th the blood of the eternal covenant, 



furnish you with everything * for 21 
the doing of his will, creating in 
your lives by Jesus Christ what is 
acceptable in his own sight I To 
him be glory for ever and ever: 
Amen. 

I appeal to you, brothers, to 22 
bear with this appeal of mine. It 
is but a short letter. 

You must understand that our 23 
brother Timotheus is now free. If 
he comes soon, he and I will see you 
together. 

Salute all your leaders and all the 24 
saints. The Italians salute you. 

Grace be with you all. Amen. 

* Omitting, with t<, D*, the Latin and 
Bohairic versions, etc., the homiletic 
addition of ayaO^. 



9S6 



THE EPISTLE OF 

JAMES 



OEAP. 

1 James, a servant of God and the 
Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve 
tribes in the Dispersion : greeting. 

2 Greet it as pure joy, my brothers, 
when you come across any sort of 

3 trial, sure that the sterling temper 
of your faith produces endurance; 

4 only, let your endurance be a fin- 
ished product, so that you may be 
finished and complete, with never a 

5 defect. Whoever of you is defec- 
tive in wisdom, let him ask God 
who gives to all men without ques- 
tion or reproach, and the gift will 

6 be his. Only, let him ask in 
faith, with never a doubt; for the 
doubtful man is like surge of 
the sea whirled and swayed by the 

7 wind ; that man need not imagine 
he will get anything from God, 

8 double-minded creature that he is, 

9 wavering at every turn. Let a 
brother of low position exult when 

he is raised ; but let one who is rich 

1 exult in being lowered ; for the rich 
will pass away like the flower of the 
grass — up comes the sun with the 
scorching wind and withers the grass j 
its flower drops off, and the splen- 
dour of it is ruined : so shall the 
rich fade away amid their pursuits. 

12 Blessed is he who endures under 
trial; for when he has stood the 
test, he will get the crown of life 
which is promised to all who love 

13 Him. Let no one who is tried by 
temptation say, ' My temptation 
comes from God ' ; God is incap- 
able of being tempted by evil and 

14 he tempts no one. Everyone is 

286 



tempted as he is beguiled and 
allured by his own desire ; then 15 
Desire conceives and breeds Sin, 
while Sin matures and gives birth 
to Death. Make no mistake about 16 
this, my beloved brothers : all we 17 
are given is good, and all our endow- 
ments are faultless, descending from 
above, from the Father of the 
heavenly lights, who knows no 
change of rising and setting, who 
casts no shadow on the earth. It 18 
was his own will that we should be 
born by the Word of the truth, to 
be a kind of firstfruits among his 
creatures. Be sure of that, my 19 
beloved brothers. 

Let everyone be quick to listen, 
slow to talk, slow to be angry — for 20 
human anger does not promote 
divine righteousness ; so clear away 21 
all the foul rank growth of malice, 
and make a soil of modesty for the 
Word which roots itself inwardly 
with power to save your souls. Act 22 
on the Word, instead of merely lis- 
tening to it and deluding yourselves. 23 
For whoever listens and does no- 24 
thing, is like a man who glances at 
his natural face in a mirror; he 
glances at himself, goes off, and 
at once forgets what he was like. 
Whereas he who gazes into the 25 
faultless law of freedom and remains 
in that position, proving himself 
to be no forgetful listener but an 
active agent, he will be blessed in 
his activity. Whoever considers 26 
he is religious, and does not bridle 
his tongue, but deceives his own 



JAMES II 



27 heart, his religion is futile. Pure, 
unsoiled religion in the judgment of 
God the Father means this : to care 
for* orphans and widows in their 
trouble, and to keep oneself from 
the stain of the world. 

2 My brothers, as you believe in 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
Glory, pay no servile regard to 

2 people. Suppose there comes into 
your meeting a man who wears gold 
rings and handsome clothes, and 

8 also a poor man in dirty clothes ; if 
you attend to the wearer of the 
handsome clothes and say to him, 
" Sit here, this is a good place," 
and tell the poor man, " You can 
stand," or " Sit theref at my feet," 

4 are you not drawing distinctions in 
your own minds and proving that 
you judge people with partiality? 

5 Listen, my beloved brothers ; has 
not God chosen the poor of this 
world to be rich in faith and to 
inherit the realm which he has 
promised to those who love him? 

6 Now you insult the poor. Is it not 
the rich who lord it over you and 

7 drag you to court ? Is it not they 
who scoff at the noble Name you 

8 bear ? If you really fulfil the royal 
law laid down by scripture. You 
must love your neighbour as yourself, 

9 well and good ; but if you pay 
servile regard to people, you com- 
mit a sin, and the Law convicts 

10 you of transgression. For whoever 
obeys the whole of the Law and 
only makes a single slip, is guilty of 

11 everything. He who said. Do not 
commit adultery, also said. Do not 
kill. Now if you do not commit 
adultery but if you kill, you have 

12 transgressed the Law. Speak, act, 

* As in Matthew xrv. 36, the word implies 
personal service and help. 

t Reading fj Kdeov e/cet with B and some 
evidence from, the Latin version. 



as those who are to be judged by 
the law of freedom; for the judg- 13 
ment will be merciless to the man 
who has shown no mercy — whereas 
the merciful life will triumph in 
the face of judgment. J Do not 11 
defame one another, brothers; he 
who defames or judges his brother 
defames and judges the Law; and 
if you judge the Law, you pass 
sentence on it instead of obeying it. 
One alone is the legislator, who 12 
passes sentence ; it is He who is able 
to save and to destroy; who are 
you, to judge your neighbour? 

My brothers, what is the use of 14 
anyone declaring he has faith, if he 
has no deeds to show? Can his 
faith save him ? Suppose some 15 
brother or sister is ill-clad and 
short of daily food ; if any of you 16 
says to them, " Depart in peace ! 
Get warm, get food," without 
supplying their bodily needs, what 
use is that ? So faith, unless it has 17 
deeds, is dead in itself. Someone 18 
will object, * And you claim to have 
faith ! * Yes, and I claim to have 
deeds as well; you show me your 
faith without any deeds, and I will 
show you by my deeds what faith 
is ! You believe in one God ? 19 
Well and good. So do the devils, 
and they shudder. But will you 20 
understand, you senseless fellow, 
that faith without deeds is dead? 
When our father Abraham offered 21 
his son Isaac on the altar, was he not 
justified by what he did? In his 22 
case, you see, faith co-operated 
with deeds, faith was completed by 
deeds, and the scripture was ful- 23 
filled: Abraham believed God, and 
this was counted to him as righteous- 
ness — he was called God's friend. 
You observe it is by what he does 24 

X Restoring 4^^^-^^ to what seems to have 
been its original place. 

287 



JAMES III, IV 



that a man is justified, not simply 

25 by what he believes. So too with 
Rahab the harlot. Was she not 
justified by what she did, when 
she entertained the scouts and 
got them away by a different 
road? 

26 For as the body without the 

breath of life is dead, 
so faith is dead without deeds. 
17 Whoever, then, knows what is right 
to do and does not do it, that is a 
sin for him.* 



3 Brothers, do not swell the ranks 
of the teachers; remember we 
teachers will be judged with special 

2 strictness. We all make many a 
slip, but whoever avoids slips of 
speech is a perfect man; he can 
bridle the whole of the body as well 

8 as the tongue. We put bridles into 
the mouths of horses to make them 
obey us, and so, you see,t we can 
move the whole of their bodies. 

4 Look at ships too ; for all their size 
and speed under stiff v^dnds, they 
are turned by a tiny rudder wher- 
ever the mind of the steersman 

5 chooses. So the tongue is a small 
member of the body, but it can 
boast of great exploits. What a 
forest is set ablaze by a little spark 

6 of fire ! And the tongue is a fire, 
the tongue proves a very world 
of mischief among our members, 
staining the whole of the body and 
setting fire to the round circle of 
existence vrith a flame fed by hell. 

7 For while every kind of beast and 
bird, of creeping animals and 
creatures marine, is tameable and 

• This seems likely to have been the 
original position of 4^'. 

t Reading with C P, the Syriao and 
Armenian versions, tSe {iSov), instead of 
6( Se. 
288 



has been tamed by mankind, no 8 
man can tame the tongue — plague 
of disorder that it is, full of deadly 
venom ! With the tongue we bless 9 
the Lord and Father, and with the 
tongue we curse men made in God's 
likeness ; blessing and cursing 10 
stream from the same lips ! My 
brothers, this ought not to be. 
Does a fountain pour out fresh 11 
water and brackish from the same 
hole ? Can a fig tree, my brothers, 12 
bear olives? Or a vine, figs? 
No more can salt water yield 
fresh. 

Who among you is wise and 13 
learned? Let him show by his 
good conduct, with the modesty 
of wisdom, what his deeds are. 
But if you are cherishing bitter 14 
jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, 
do not pride yourselves on that — 
and be false to the truth. That is 15 
not the vdsdom which comes down 
from above, it is an earthly wis- 
dom, sensuous, devilish; for wher- 16 
ever jealousy and rivalry exist, 
there disorder reigns and every 
evil. The wisdom from above is 17 
first of all pure, then peaceable, 
forbearing, conciliatory, full of 
mercy and wholesome fruit, un- 
ambiguous, straightforward; and 18 
the peacemakers who sow in peace 
reap righteousness. Where do 4 
conflicts, where do vn'angles come 
from, in your midst? Is it 
not from these passions of yours 
that war among your members? 
You crave, and miss what you 2 
want : you envy % and covet, but 
you cannot acquire : you wrangle 
and fight — you miss what you 
want because you do not ask God 
for it ; you do ask and you do not 3 
get it, because you ask with the 

% Accepting ^Oovelref the conjecture of 
Erasmus, for the <pove{>€Tt of the MSS. 



JAMES V 



wicked intention of spending it on 

4 your pleasures. (Wanton creatures I 
do you not know that the world's 
friendship means enmity to God? 
Whoever, then, chooses to be the 
world's friend, turns enemy to 

5 God. What, do you consider this 

6 is an idle word of scripture ? — ' He 
yearns jealously for the spirit he 
set within us.') Yet he gives grace 
more and more : thus it is said, 

The haughty God opposes, 

hut to the humble he gives grace, 

7 Well then, submit yourselves to 
God; 

resist the devil, 

and he will fly from you : 

8 draw near to God, 

and he will draw near to you. 
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, 
and purify your hearts, you 

double-minded. 

9 Lament and mourn and weep, 
let your laughter be turned to 

mourning, 
and your joy to depression; 
10 humble yourselves before the 
Lord, 
and then he will raise you up. 

13 Come now, you who say, " To- 
day or to-morrow we are going to 
such and such a city ; we shall spend 
a year there trading and making 

14 money " — you who know nothing 
about to-morrow I For what is 
your life? You are but a mist, 
which appears for a little and then 

15 vanishes. You ought rather to 
say, " If the Lord will, we shall live 

16 to do this or that." But here you 
are, boasting in your proud preten- 
sions ! All such boasting is wicked. 

OEAF. 

5 Come now, you rich men, weep 
and shriek over your impending 
miseries I 



You have been storing up trea- 
sure in the very last days;* 
j^our wealth lies rotting, 2 

and your clothes are moth- 
eaten ; 
your gold and silver lie rusted 3 

over, 
and their rust will be evidence 

against you, 
it will devour your flesh like 

fire. 
See, the wages of which you have 4 
defrauded the workmen who 
mowed your fields call out, 
and the cries of the harvesters 
have reached the ears of the 
Lord of Hosts. 
You have revelled on earth and 5 

plunged into dissipation ; 
you have fattened yourselves as 

for the Day of slaughter ; 
you have condemned, you have 6 
murdered the righteous — 
unresisting. 
Be patient, then, brothers, till 7 
the arrival of the Lord. See how 
the farmer waits for the precious 
crop of the land, biding his time 
patiently till he gets {he autumn 
and the spring rains ; have patience 8 
yourselves, strengthen your hearts, 
for the arrival of the Lord is at 
hand. Do not murmur against 9 
one another, brothers, lest you are 
judged ; look, the Judge is standing 
at the very door ! As an ex- 10 
ample of fortitude and endurance, 
brothers, take the prophets who 
have spoken in the name of the 
Lord. See, we call the stedfast 11 
happy ; you have heard of the 
stedfastness of Job, and you have 
seen the end of the Lord with him, 
seen that the Lord is very com- 
passionate and pitiful. Above all, 12 

* Transferring the last clause of ver. 3 
to what appears to have boon iti original 
position. 



JAMES V 



my brothers, never swear an oath, 
either by heaven or by earth or by 
anything else ; let your " yes " be a 
plain " yes," your " no " a plain 
" no," lest you incur judgment. 

13 Is anyone of you in trouble ? let 
him pray. Is anyone thriving? 

14 let him sing praise. Is anyone ill ? 
let him summon the presbyters of 
the church, and let them pray over 
him, anointing him with oil in the 

15 name of the Lord; the prayer of 
faith will restore the sick man, and 
the Lord will raise him up; even 
the sins he has committed will be 

1 6 forgiven him. So confess your sins 
to one another and pray for one 



another, that you may be healed; 
the prayers of the righteous have a 
powerful effect. Elijah was a man 17 
with a nature just like our own; 
but he offered prayer that it might 
not rain, and for three years and 
six months it did not rain ; then he 18 
prayed again, and the sky yielded 
rain, the earth brought forth its 
fruit. 

My brothers, if anyone of you 19 
goes astray from the truth and some 
one brings him back, understand 20 i 
that he M^ho brings a sinner back 
from the error of his way saves his 
soul from death and hides a host of 
sins. 



SHE FIRST EPISTLE OF 

PETER 



1 Peter an apostle of Jesus 
Christ, to the exiles of the Disper- 
sion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 

2 Asia, and Bithynia, whom God the 
Father has predestined and chosen, 
by the consecration of the Spirit, to 
obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled 
with his blood : may grace and 
peace be multiplied to you. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ ! By his 
great mercy we have been born 
anew to a life of hope through the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ from 

4 the dead, born to an unscathed, 
inviolate, unfading inheritance; it 

5 is kept in heaven for you, and the 
power of God protects you by faith 
till you do inherit the salvation 
which is all ready to be revealed 

6 at the last hour. You will re- 
joice then, though for the passing 
moment you may need to suffer 

7 various trials ; that is only to prove 
your faith is sterling (far more 
precious than gold wHich is perish- 
able and yet is tested by fire), and 
it redounds to your praise and glory 
and honour at the revelation of 

8 Jesus Christ. You never knew him, 
^- but you love him ; for the moment 

you do not see him, but you be- 
lieve in him. and you will thrill 
with an unspeakable and glorioas 

9 joy to obtain the outcome of your 
faith in the salvation of your souls. 

10 Even prophets have searched and 
inquired about that salvation, the 
prophets who prophesied of the 
grace that was meant for you; 



the Spirit of messiah within them 11 
foretold all the suffering of messiah 
and his after-glory, and they pon- 
dered when or how this was to 
come ; to them it was revealed that 12 
they got this intelligence * not for ' \ 
themselves but for you, regarding 
all that has now been disclosed to 
you by those who preached the gos- 
pel to you through the holy Spirit 
sent from heaven. The very angels 
long to get a glimpse of this I 

Brace up your minds, then, 13 
keep cool, and put your hope for 
good and all in the grace that is 
coming to you at the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. Be obedient chil- 14 
dren, instead of moulding your- 
selves to the passions that once 
ruled the days of your ignorance; 
as He who called you is holy, so 15 
you must be holy too in all your 
conduct — -for it is written. You shall 16 
be holy because I am holy. And as 17 
you call upon a Father who judges 
everyone impartially by what he 
has done, be reverent in your 
conduct while you sojourn here 
below; you know it was not by 18 
perishable silver or gold that you 
were ransomed from the futile tra- 
ditions of your past, but by the 19 
precious blood of Christ, a lamb un- 
blemished and unstained. He was 20 
predestined before the foundation 

* On the basis of Enoch i. 2 {oix fls r^y 
vvv yfveav Sitvooifxrtv iW' inl 'ir6ppw oZaav 
iyia \a\a) Dr. Rendel Harris plausibly 
reads Sievoovvro, as above, for the ^i'i\k6vow 
of the ordinary text. 

201 



I. PETER II 



of the world and has appeared 
at the end of the ages for your 

21 sake ; it is by him that you be- 
heve in God who raised him from 
the dead and gave him glory; and 
thus your faith means hope in God, 

22 Now that your obedience to the 
Truth has purified your souls for a 
brotherly love that is sincere, love 
one another heartily and steadily. 

23 You are born anew of immortal, not 
of mortal seed, by the living, lasting 

24 word of God ; for 

All flesh is like the grass, 

and all its glory like the flower 
of grass : 

the grass withers 
and the flower fades, 

25 hut the word of the Lord lasts for 

ever — 
and that is the word of the gospel for 
2 you. So off with all malice, all 
guile and insincerity and envy and 

2 slander of every kind ! Like newly- 
born children, thirst for the pure, 
spiritual milk to make you grow up 

3 to salvation. You have had a taste 

4 of the kindness of the Lord : come to 
him then — come to that living Stone 
which men have rejected and God 

5 holds choice and precious, come 
and, like living stones yourselves, be 
built into a spiritual house, to form 
a consecrated priesthood for the 
offering of those spiritual sacrifices 
that are acceptable to God through 

6 Jesus Christ. For thus it stands in 
the scripture: 

Here I lay a Stone in Sion, 
a choice, a 'precious corner- 
stone : 

he who believes in him will never 
he disappointed. 

7 Now you believe, you hold him 
' precious,' but as for the unbeliev- 
ing— 

the very stone the builders rejected 
is now the cornerstone, 
292 



a stone over which men stumble and 8 
a rock of offence ; they stumble over 
it in their disobedience to God's 
word. Such is their appointed 
doom. But you are the elect race, 9 
the royal priesthood, the consecrated 
nation, the People wfio belong to Him, 
that you may proclaim the wondrous 
deeds of Him who has called you 
from darkness to his wonderful 
light — ^you who once were no people 10 
and now are God's people, you who 
once were unpitied and now are 
pitied. 

Beloved, as sojourners and exiles 11 
I appeal to you to abstain from the 
passions of the flesh that wage war 
upon the soul. Conduct yourselves 12 
properly before pagans ; so that for 
all their slander of you as bad 
characters, they may come to 
glorify God when you are put 
upon your trial, by what they see 
of your good deeds. 

Submit for the Lord's sake to any 13 
human authority; submit to the 
emperor as supreme, and to gover- 14 
nors as deputed by him for the 
punishment of wrongdoers and the 
encouragement of honest people — 
for it is the will of God that by 15 
your honest lives you should silence 
the ignorant charges of foolish 
persons. Live like free men, only 16 
do not make your freedom a pre- 
text for misconduct; live like ser- ^ 
vants of God. Do honour to all, 17 
love the brotherhood, reverence God, 
honour the emperor. 

Servants, be submissive to your 18 
masters with perfect respect, not 
simply to those who are kind and 
reasonable but to the surly as well — 
for it is a merit when from a sejQise 19 
of God one bears the pain of unjust 
suffering. Where is the credit in 20 
standing punishment for having 
done wrong? No, if you stand 



I. PETER III 



i^ 



suffering for having done right, 
» that is what God counts a merit. 

21 It isjyour vocation ; for when Christ 
suffered for you, he left you an 
example, and you must follow his 
footsteps. 

22 He committed no sin, 

no guile was ever found upon 
his lips ; 

23 he was reviled and made no retort, 

he suffered and never threat- 
ened, 
but left everything to Him who 

24 judges justly ; he hare our sins in his 
own body on the gibbet, that we 
might break with sin and live for 
righteousness; and hy his wounds 

25 you have been healed. You were 
astray like sheep^ but you have come 
back now to the Shepherd and 
Guardian of your souls. 

3 In the same way, you wives 
must be submissive to your hus- 
bands, so that even those who will 
not believe the Word may be won 
over without a word by the behav- 

2 iour of their wives, when they see 
how chaste and reverent you are. 

3 You are not to adorn yourselves 
on the outside with braids of hair 
and ornaments of gold and changes 

4 of dress, but inside, in the heart, 
with the immortal beauty of a 

\ gentle and modest spirit, which in 
■ the sight of God is of rare value. 

5 It was in this way long ago that 
the holy women who hoped in God 
adorned themselves. They were 

6 submissive to their husbands. Thus 
Sara obeyed Abraham by calling 
him * lord \ And you are daughters 
of Sara if you do what is right and 

7 yield to no panic,* In the same way 
you husbands must be considerate 

♦ Apparently an allusion to the fear of 
violence at tne hands of their (pagan ?) 
husbands. The language, but not the idea, 
ia that of Pioyeibs ui. 25. 



in living with your wives, since 
they are the weaker sex ; you must 
honour them as heirs equally with 
yourselves of the grace of Life, so 
that your prayers may not be 
hindered. 

Lastly, you must all be united, 8 
you must have sympathy, brotherly 
love, compassion, and humility, 
never paying back evil for evil, never 9 
reviling when you are reviled, but 
on the contrary blessing. For this j 
is your vocation, to bless and to 
inherit blessing; 

he who would love Life 10 

and enjoy good days, 
let him keep his tongue from evil 
and his lips from speaking 
guile : 
let him shun wrong and do 11 
right, 
let him seek peace and make 
peace his aim. 
For the eyes of the Lord are on the 12 
upright, 
and his ears are open to their 
cry ; 
hut the face of the Lord is set against 
wrongdoers. 
Yet who will wrong you if you 13 
have a passion for goodness ? Even 14 
supposing 5^ou have to suffer for 
the sake of what is right, still you ^ 
are blessed. Have no fear of their 
threats, do not let that trouble you, 
but reverence Christ as Lord in 15 
your own hearts. Always be 
ready vnih. a reply for anyone 
who calls you to account for the 
hope you cherish, but answer gently / 

and with a sense of reverence ; see 16 
that you have a clean conscience, 
so that, for all their slander of you, 
these libellers of your good Chris- 
tian behaviour may be ashamed. 
For it is better to suffer for doing 17 
right (if that should be the will 
of God) than for doing wrong. 

293 



I. PETER IV 



18 Christ himself died for sins, once 
for ail, a just man for unjust 

1 men, that he might bring us near 
to God ; in the flesh he was put to 
death but he came to Hfe in the 

19 Spirit. (It was in the Spirit that 
Enoch* also went and preached to 

20 the imprisoned spirits who had 
disobeyed at the time when God's 
patience held out during the con- 
struction of the ark in the days of 
Noah — the ark by which only a few 

, souls, eight in all, were brought 
\ 21 safely through the water. Baptism, 
■ the counterpart of that, saves you 
to-day (not the mere washing of 
^ dirt from the flesh but the prayer 
for a clean conscience before God) 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
22 who is at God's right hand — for he 
*- went to heaven after angels, authori- 
ties, and powers celestial had been 
made subject to him.) 
4 Well, as Christ has suffered for 
us in the flesh, let this very con- 
viction that he who has suffered in 
the flesh gets quit of sin, nerve you 

2 to spend the rest of your time in 
the flesh for the will of God and no 

3 longer for human passions. It is 
quite enough to have done as pagans 
choose to do, during the time gone 
by I You used to lead lives of 
sensuality, lust, carousing, revelry, 

4 dissipation and illicit idolatry, and 
it astonishes them that you will 
not plunge with them still into 
the same flood of profligacy. They 

6 abuse you, but they will have to 
answer for that to Him who is 
prepared to judge the living and the 

6 dead (for this was why the gospel 

* Accepting the emendation of Dr. 
Rendel Harris that *Ev(ax has been omitted 
after iy $ Kal (ENXIKAI [ENflX]), by "a 
scribe's blunder in dropping some re- 
peated letters." The story of this mission 
is told in the Book of Enoch (see abovo^ 
p. 291). 
204 



was preached to the dead as well, 
that while they are judged in the ^^ 
flesh as men, they may live as God \ 
lives in the spirit). ^J 

Now the end of all is near. 7 
Steady then, keep cool and pray ! ^ 
Above all, be keen to love one 8 / 
another, for love hides a host of 
sins. Be hospitable to each other, 9 
and do not grudge it. You must 10 
serve one another, each with the 
talent he has received, as efficient 
stewards of God's varied grace. 
If anyone preaches, he must preach 11 
as one who utters the words of ^ / 
God ; if anyone renders some service, 
it must be as one who is supplied 
by God with power, so that in 
everything God may be glorified 
through Jesus Christ. The glory 
and the dominion are his for ever 
and ever : Amen. 

Beloved, do not be surprised at 12 
the ordeal that has come to test 
you, as though some foreign ex- 
perience befell you. You are shar- 13 
ing what Christ suffered ; so rejoice 
in it, that you may also rejoice and 
exult when his glory is revealed. 
If you are denounced for the sake of 14 
Christ, you are blessed; for then 
the Spirit of glory and power, the 
Spirit of God himself, is resting on 
you. None of you must suffer as 15 
a murderer or a thief or a bad 
character or a revolutionary; but 16 
if a man suffers for being a Chris- 
tian, he must not be ashamed, he 
must rather glorify God for that. 
It is time for the Judgment to begin 17 
with the household of God; 

and if it begins with us, 

what will be the fate of those 
who refuse obedience to 
God's gospel? 

If the just man is scarcely saved, 18 
what will become of the impious 
and sinful ? 



I. PETER V 



19 So let those who are suffering by 
the will of God trust their souls to 
him, their faithful Creator, as they 
continue to do right. 

OHAP. 

5 Now I make this appeal to your 
presbyters (for I am a presbyter 
myself, I was a witness of what 

/ Christ suffered and I am to share 

2 the glory that will be revealed), be 

shepherds to your flock of God; 

take charge of them willingly* 

instead of being pressed to it, not 

to make a base profit from it but 

8 freely, not by way of lording it over 

your charges but proving a pattern 

4 to the flock. Then you will receive 

the unfading crown of glory, when 

the chief Shepherd makes his ap- 

6 pearance. You younger men 
must also submit to the presbyters. 
Indeed you must all put on the 
apron of humility to serve one 
another, for 

the haughty God opposes, 
but to the humble he gives grace, 
6 Humble yourselves under the 
strong hand of God then, so that 

* Omitting Karh Biiv, 



\\\ 



8 



9 



when it is time, he may raise you ; 
let all your anxieties fall upon him, 
for his interest is in you. 

Keep cool, keep awake. Your 
enemy the devil prowls like a 
roaring lion, looking out for some- 
one to devour. Resist him; keep 
your foothold in the faith, and 
learn to pay the same tax of suffer- 
ing as the rest of your brotherhood 
throughout the world. Once you 10 
have suffered for a little, the God 
of all grace who has called you to 
his eternal glory in Christ, willf 
repair and recruit and strengthen 
you. The dominion is his for ever 11 
and ever : Amen. 

By the hand of Silvanus, a faith- 12 
ful brother (in my opinion), I have 
written you these few lines of en- 
couragement, to testify that this is 
what the true grace of God means. 
Stand in that grace. 

Your sister-church in Babylon, 13 
elect like yourselves, salutes you. 
So does my son Mark. Salute one 14 
another with a kiss of love. 

Peace be to you all who are in 
Christ [Jesus]. 

t Omitting ee/xeXidxrei with A B, tii« 
Latin and Ethiopio versions. 



w 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF 

PETEE 



CHAP. 

1 Symeon Peter, a servant and 
apostle of Jesus Christ, to those 
who have been allotted a faith of 
equal privilege with ours, by the 
equity of our God and saviour Jesus 

2 Christ : grace and peace be multi- 
plied to you by the knowledge of * 

8 our Lord. Inasmuch as his power 
divine has bestowed on us every 
requisite for life and piety by the 
knowledge of him who called us 
to his own glory and excellence — 

4 bestowing on us thereby promises 
precious and supreme, that by 
means of them you may escape the 
corruption produced within the 
world by lust, and participate in 

5 the divine nature — for this very 
reason, do you contrive to make 
it your whole concern to furnish 
your faith with resolution, resolu- 

(5 tion with intelligence, intelligence 
with self-control, self-control with 
stedfastness, stedfastness with 

7 piety, piety with brotherliness, 
brotherliness with Christian love. 

8 For as these qualities exist and 
increase with you, they render you 
active and fruitful in the knowledge 

9 of our Lord Jesus Christ ; whereas 
he who has not these by him is 

''* blind, shortsighted, oblivious that 
he has been cleansed from his erst- 

10 while sins. So be the more eager, 
brothers, to ratify your calling and 
election, for as you practise these 
qualities you will never make a slip ; 

11 you will thus be richly furnished 

* Omitting, with P €Uid the Latin Vul- 
gate, -rov StOV Kol 'lllffOV, 

208 



with the right of entry into the 
eternal realm of our Lord and 
saviour Jesus Christ. 

Hence I mean to keep on remind- 12 
ing you of this, although you are , 
aware of it and are fixed in the Truth, W^ 
as it is ; so long as I am in this tent, 13 
I deem it proper to stir you up by 
way of reminder, since I know my 141 
tent must be folded up very soon — I 
as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ 
has shown me. Yes, and I will see 15 
to it that even when I am gone, you 
will keep this constantly in mind. 
For it was no fabricated fables 16 
that we followed when we reported 
to you the power and advent of 
our Lord Jesus Christ; we were / 
admitted to the spectacle of his ^ 
sovereignty, when he was invested 17 
with honour and glory by God the 
Father, and when the following 
voice was borne to him from | the 
sublime Glory, " This is my son, * 
the Beloved, in whom I delight." 
That voice borne from heaven we 18 
heard, we who were beside him on 
the sacred hill, and thus we have 19 
gained fresh confirmation of the 
prophetic word. Pray attend to 
that word; it shines like a lamp 
within a darksome spot, till the 
Day dawns and the daystar rises 
within your hearts — understanding 20 
this, at the outset, that no pro- 
phetic scripture allows a man to 
interpret it by himself; for pro- 2] 
phecy never came by human im- 

t Reading with the Syriac and Latin 
(Vulgate) versions avh instead of vif6. 



II. PETER II 



C^ 



Eulse, it was when carried away 
y the holy Spirit that the* holy 
men of God spoke. 
2 Still, false prophets did appear 
among the People, as among you 
also there will be false teachers, 
men who will insinuate destructive 
heresies, even disowning the Lord 
who ransomed them; they bring 
rapid destruction on themselves, 

2 and many ^vill follow their immor- 
ality (thanks to them the true Way 

3 will be maligned) ; in their lust 
they will exploit you with cunning 
arguments — men whose doom 
comes apace from of old, and 
destruction is awake upon their 
trail. For if God did not spare 
angels who had sinned, but com- 
mitting them to pits of the nether 
gloom in Tartarus, reserved them 

6 under punishment f for doom : if 
he did not spare the ancient world 
but kept Noah, the herald of 
righteousness, safe with seven 
others, when he let loose the deluge 

6 on the world of impious men : if 
he reduced the cities of Sodom and 
Gomorra to ashes when he sen- 
tenced them to devastation, and 
thus gave the impious I an example 

7 of what was in store for them, but 
rescued righteous Lot who was 
sore burdened by the immoral 

8 behaviour of the lawless (for when 
that righteous man resided among 
them, by what he saw and heard his 
righteous soul was vexed day after 
day with their unlawful doings) — 

9 then be sure the Lord knows how 

* Reading ot ayioi 6eov HvOpaairoi with fc^ A, 
the Latin version, etc. 

t Reading with t^ A, the Latin and 
Egyptian versions, and SyrP^Ji KoKa^oixivovs 
Ttjpelv instead of ttjpovij.4uovs. 

X Reading affefieanv (B P Syr^) or to7s 
ikffffieaip (sah boh) instead of acreh^tv. As 
Weizsacker renders it, " ein Vorbild des 
Kommenden gebend f^ die Gottlosen." 



to rescue pious folk from trial, and 
how to keep the unrighteous under 
punishment till the day of doom, 
particularly those who fall in with 10 
the polluting appetite of the flesh 
and despise the Powers celestial. 
Daring, presumptuous creatures I 
they are not afraid to scoff at the an- 
gelic Glories; whereas even angels, 11 
superior in might and power, lay no 
scoffing charge against these before 
the Lord. But those people ! — 12 
like irrational animals, creatures 
of mere instinct, born for capture 
and corruption, they scoff at what 
they are ignorant of; and like 
animals they will suffer corruption 
and ruin, done out of § the profits 13 
of their evil-doing. Pleasure for 
them is revelling in open daylight — 
spots and blots, with their dissipated 
revelling, as they carouse in your 
midst! — their eyes are full of 14 
harlotry, insatiable for sin; their 
own hearts trained to lust, they 
beguile unsteady souls. Accursed 
generation I they have gone wrong 15 
by leaving the straight road, by 
following the road of Balaam son 
of Bosor, who liked the profits of 
evil-doing — but he got reproved 16 
for his malpractice : a dumb ass 
spoke with human voice and 
checked the prophet's infatuation. 
These people are waterless foun- 17 
tains and mists driven by a squall, 
for whom the nether gloom of dark- 
ness II is reserved. By talking arro- 18 
gant futilities they beguile with the 
sensual lure of fleshly passion those 
who are just escaping from the 
company of misconduct — promising 19 
them freedom, when they are them- 
selves enslaved to corruption (for 
a man is the slave of whatever 

§ Reading, with ^5* B P SyrPi^ii arm a5i- 
Kov/x€uoi instead of Kofxiovfievu 
II Omitting [ets alum]. 

297 



II, PETER III 



20 overpowers him). After escaping 
the pollutions of the world by the 
knowledge of our Lord and saviour 
Jesus Christ, if they get entangled 
and overpowered again, the last 
state is worse for them than the 

21 first. Better had they never known 
the Way of righteousness, than to 
know it and then turn back from 
the holy commandment which was 

22 committed to them. They verify 
the truth of the proverb : 

'* The dog turns hack to what he has 
vomited, 
the sow when washed will 
wallow in the mire." 

8 This is the second letter I have 
already written to you, beloved, 
stirring up your pure mind* by way 

2 of reminder, to have you recollect 
the words spoken by the holy 
prophets beforehand and the com- 
mand given by your apostles from 

8 the Lord and saviour. To begin 
with, you know that mockers will 
come with their mockeries in the 
last days, men who go by their own 

4 passions, asking, " Where is His 
promised advent? Since the day 
our fathers fell asleep, things re- 
main exactly as they were from the 

5 beginning of creation." They wil- 
fully ignore the fact that heavens 
existed long ago, and an earth 
which the word of God formed of 

6 water and by water. By water 
the then-existing world was deluged 

7 and destroyed, but the present 
heavens and earth are treasured 
up by the same word for fire, re- 
served for the day when the im- 
pious are doomed and destroyed. 

8 Beloved, you must not ignore this 
one fact, that with the Lord a single 
day is like a thousand years, and a 

* Adiflficult phrase, referring perhaps to 
freedom from the contamination of heresies. 
Beuss rendera, ** votie sain jugement." 
298 



thousand years are like a single day. 
The Lord is not slow with what 9 
he promises, according to certain 
people's idea of slowness; no, he 
is longsuffering for your sake,! he 
does not wish any to perish but 
all to betake them to repentance. 
The day of the Lord will come like 10 
a thief, when the heavens will 
vanish with crackhng roar, the 
stars will be set ablaze and melt, 
the earth and all its works will dis- 
appear. | Now as all things are 11 
thus to be dissolved, what holy and 
pious men ought you to be in your 
behaviour, you who expect and 12 
hasten the advent of the Day of 
God, which dissolves the heavens in 
fire and makes the stars blaze and 
melt I It is new heavens and a 13 
new earth that we expect, as He 
has promised, and in them dwells 
righteousness. Then, beloved, as 14 
you are expecting this, be eager / 
to be found by him unspotted and \ 
unblemished in serene assurance. 
And consider that the longsuffering 15 
of our Lord means salvation ; as 
indeed our beloved brother Paul 
has written to you out of the wis- 
dom vouchsafed to him, speaking 16 
of this as he has done in all his 
letters — letters containing some 
knotty points, which ignorant and 
unsteady souls twist (as they do the 
rest of the scriptures) to their own 
destruction. Now, beloved, you 17 
are forewarned : mind you are not 
carried away by the error of the law- 
less and so lose your proper footing ; 
but grow in the grace and know- 18 
ledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus 
Christ. To him be the glory now 
and to the day of eternity : Amen. 

t Reading 5t' with X A Lat. syr. sah., etc. 
X Adding ovx before tvpeOiifftrai with the 
SaLidio version. 



THE FIRST EPISTLE OF 



JOHN 



CHAV. 

1 It is of what existed from the 
very beginning, of what we heard, 
of what we saw, of what we wit- 
nessed and touched with our own 
hands, it is of the Logos of Life 

2 (the Life has appeared ; we saw it, 
we testify to it, we bring you word 
of that eternal Life which existed 
with the Father and was disclosed 

3 to us) — it is of what we heard and 
saw that we bring you word, so 
that you may share our fellowship ; 
and our fellowship is with the 
Father and with his Son Jesus 

4 Christ. We are writing this to you 
that our own joy may be complete. 

5 Here is the message we learned 
from him and announce to you : 
* God is light and in him there is 

6 no darkness, none.' If we say, 
' We have fellowship with him,* 
when we live and move in darkness, 
then we are lying, we are not 

7 practising the truth ; but if we live 
and move within the light, as he 
is within the light, then we have 
fellowship with one another, and 
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses 

8 us from every sin. If we say, ' We 
are not guilty,' we are deceiving 
ourselves and the truth is not in us ; 

9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and just, he forgives our sins and 

10 cleanses us from all iniquity; if 
we say, " We have not sinned," we 
make him a liar and his word is 
2 not within us. My dear chil- 

dren, I am writing this to you that 
you may not sin; but if anyone 
does sin, we have an advocate with 



the Father in Jesus Christ the just ; 
he is himself the propitiation for 2 
our sins, though not for ours alone 
but also for the whole world. 

This is how we may be sure we 3 
know him, by obeying his com- 
mands. He who says, ' I know 4 
him,' but does not obey his com- 
mands, is a liar and the truth is not 
in him ; but whoever obeys his word, 5 
in him love to God is really complete. 
This is how we may be sure we are 
in him: he who says he 'remains 6 
in him ' ought to live as he lived. 

Beloved, I am not writing you 7 
any new command, but an old 
command which you have had from 
the very beginning : the old com- 
mand is the word you have heard. 
And yet it is a new command I am 8 
writing to you — ^reahzed in him 
and also in yourselves, because the 
darkness is passing away and the 
true light is already shining. He 9 
who says he is *in the light' and 
hates his brother, is in darkness still. 
He who loves his brother remains 10 
in the light — and in the light there 
is no pitfall; but he who hates his 11 
brother is in darkness, he walks in 
darkness and does not know where 
he is going, for the darkness has 
blinded his eyes. 

My dear children, I am writing 12 
to you, 
because your sins are forgiven 
for his sake : 

fathers, I am writing to you, 13 

because you know him who is 

from the very beginning : 

299 



I. JOHN III 



young men, I am writing to 

you, 

because you have conquered 

the evil One. 
children, I have written to 

you, 
because you know the Father : 

14 fathers, I have written to you, 

because you know him who is 
from the very beginning : 
yoimg men, I have written to 
you, 

because you are strong, and the 
word of God remains within 
you, and you have conquered 
the evil One. 

15 Love not the world, nor yet what 
is in the world; if anyone loves 
the world, love for the Father is 

16 not in him. For all that is in the 
world, the desire of the flesh and 
the desire of the eyes and the 
proud glory of life, belongs not to 

17 the Father but to the world ; and 
the world is passing away with its 
desire, while he who does the will 
of God remains for ever. 

18 Children, it is the last hour. You 
have learned that ' Antichrist is 
coming.' Well, but many anti- 
christs have appeared — which 
makes us sure it is the last hour. 

19 They withdrew from us, but they 
did not belong to us; had they 
belonged to us, they would have 
remained with us, but they with- 
drew to make it plain that they 

20 are none of us. Now, you have 
been anointed by the holy One, 

21 and you all possess knowledge. I 
am not writing to you because you 
do not know the truth, but because 
you do know it, and know that no 
lie has any connexion with the 
truth. 

22 Who is the real liar ? 

who but he who denies that 
Jesus is the Christ? 
300 



This is ' antichrist,' 

he who disowns the Father and 
the Son. 

No one who disowns the Son can 23 
possess the Father : 

he who confesses the Son pos- 
sesses the Father as well. 
Let that remain in you which 24 
you learned from the very begin- 
ning ; if what you learned from the 
very beginning remains with you, 
then you will remain in the Son 
and in the Father. / 

Now this is what he has prom- 25 
ised you,* eternal life. I am writing 26 
to you in this way about those who 
would deceive you, but the unction 27 
you received from him remains 
within you, and you really need no 
teaching from anyone; simply re- 
main in him, for his unction teaches 
you about everything and is true 
and is no lie — remain in him, as it 
has taught you to do. Remain with- 28 
in him now, my dear children, so 
that when he appears, we may have 
confidence instead of shrinking 
from him in shame at his arrival. 
As you know he is just, be sure 29 
that everyone wfib" practises right- 
eousness is born of him. ' Born 3 
of him ! ' Think what a love 
the Father has for us, in letting 
us be called ' children of God ! ' 
That is what we are. The world 
does not recognize us? That is 
simply because it did not recognize 
him. We are children of God now, 2 
beloved; what we are to be is not 
apparent yet, but we do know that 
when he appears, we are to be like 
him — for we are to see him as he is . 
And everyone who rests thtsTiope 8 
on him, purifies himself ^hej^ pure. 
Everyone who commits sin com- 4 
mits lawlessness : sin is lawlessness, 
and you know he appeared to take 5 
* Reading vfuv instead of 7}fuv» 



I. JOHN IV 



[our] sins away. In him there is 

6 no sin ; anyone who remains in him 
does not sin — anyone who sins has 
neither seen nor known him. Let 

7 no one deceive you, my dear chil- 
dren : he who practises righteous- 

8 ness is just, as He is just; he who 
commits sin 15elongs to the devil, 
for the devil is a sinner from the 
very beginning. (This is why the 
Son of God appeared, to destroy 

9 the deeds of the devil.) Anyone 
who is born of God does not commit 

j sin, for the offspring of God remain 
f in Him, and they cannot sin, he- 
ld cause they are born of God. Here 
is how the children of God and the 
children of the devil are recognized ; 
anyone who does not practise 
righteousness does not belong to 
God, and neither does he who has 

11 no love for his brother. For this 
is the message you have learned 
from the very beginning, that we 

12 are to love one another : we are 
not to be like Cain, who belonged 
to the evil One and slew his brother. 
And why did he slay him? Be- 
cause his own deeds were evil and 

13 his brother's just. Do not wonder, 
brothers, that the world hates you. 

14 We know we have crossed from 
death to life, because we love the 
brotherhood; he who has no love 
[for his brother] remains in death. 

15 Anyone who hates his brother is a 
murderer, and you know no mur- 
derer has eternal life remaining 

16 within him. We know what love 
is by this, that He laid down his life 
for us; so we ought to lay down 
our lives for the brotherhood. 

17 But whoever possesses this world's 
goods, and notices his brother in 
need, and shuts his heart against 
him, how can love to God re- 

18 main in him ? My dear children, 
let us put our love not into words 



or into talk but into deeds, and 
make it real. 

Thus it is that we may be sure we 19 
belong to the truth and reassure 
ourselves whenever our heart con- 20 
demns us ; for God is greater than 
our heart, and he knows all. If 21 
our heart does not condemn us, 
beloved, then we have confidence 
in approaching God, and we get 22 
from him whatever we ask, because 
we obey his commands and do what 
is pleasing in his sight. Now 23 

this is what he commands, that we 
believe in the name of his Son Jesus 
Christ, and love one another as he 
has commanded us to do ; he who 24 
obeys his commands remains within 
him — and He remains within him. 
And this is how we may be sure he 
remains within us, by means of the 
Spirit he has given us. Do not 4 
believe every spirit, beloved, but 
test the spirits to see if they come 
from God ; for many false prophets 
have emerged in the world. You 2 
can recognize the Spirit of God by 
this : every spirit which confesses 
Jesus as the Christ incarnate comes 
from God, and every spirit which 3 
does not confess Jesus [incarnate] 
does not come from God. This 
latter is the spirit of antichrist; 
you were told it was coming, and 
here it is already in the world. My 4 
dear children, you belong to God, 
and you have conquered all such, 
for He who is within you is greater 
than he who is in the world. 

They belong to the world, 5 

therefore they speak as in- 
spired by the world, 

and the world listens to them : 
we belong to God — 6 

he who knows God listens to 
us, 

he who does not belong to God 
does not listen to us. 

901 



I. JOHN V 



c 



This is how we recognize the spirit 
of truth and the spirit of error. 

7 Beloved, let us love one another, 
for love belongs to God, and every- 
one who loves is born of God and 

8 knows God ; he who does not love, 
does not know God, for God is love. 

9 This is how the love of God has 
appeared for us, by God sending his 
only Son into the world, so that by 

10 him we might live. Love lies in 
this, not in our love for him but in 
his love for us — ^in the sending of his 
Son to be the propitiation for our 

11 sins. Beloved, if God had such love 
for us, we ought to love one an- 

12 other. God no one has ever seen ; 
but if we love one another, then God 
remains within us, and love for him 

13 is complete in us. This is how we 
may be sure we remain in him and 
he in us, because he has given us a 

14 share in his own Spirit ; and we have 
seen, we can testify, that the Father 
has sent the Son as the Saviour of 

15 the world. Whoever confesses that 
' Jesus is the Son of God,' in him 
God remains, and he remains in 

16 God; well, we do know, we have 
beheved, the love God has for us. 
God is love, and he who remains 
in love remains in God, and God 

17 remains in him. Love is complete 
with us when we have absolute con- 
fidence about the day of judgment, 
since in this world we are living as 

18 He lives. Love has no dread in 
it ; no, love in its fulness drives all 
dread away, for dread has to do 
with punishment — anyone who has 
dread, has not reached the fulness of 

19 love. We love, because He loved 

20 us first. If anyone declares, 'I love 
God,* and yet hates his brother, he is 
a liar ; for he who will not love his 
brother whom he has seen, cannot 
possibly love the God whom he 

21 has never seen. And we get this 



command from him, that he who 
loves God is to love his brother as 
well. 

Everyone who believes Jesus is 5 
the Christ, is born of God; and 
everyone who loves the Father, 
loves the sons * born of him. This 2 
is how we are sure that we love 
God's children, by loving God and 
obejring his commands (for love to 3 
God means keeping his commands). 
And his commands are not irksome, 
for whatever is born of God con- 4 
quers the world. Our faith, that 
is the conquest which conquers the 
world. Who is the world's con- 5 
queror but he who believes that 
Jesus is the Son of God? Jesus 6 
Christ, he it is who came by water 
and blood — not by the water alone, 
but by the water and the blood. 
The Spirit is the witness to this, 7 
for the Spirit is truth. The wit- 8 
nesses are three, the Spirit and the 
water and the blood, and the three 
of them are in accord. If we 9 
accept human testimony, God's 
testimony is greater; for God's 
testimony consists in his testimony 
to his Son. He who believes in the 10 
Son of God possesses that testimony 
within himself; he who will not 
believe God, has made God a liar 
by refusing to believe the testimony 
which God has borne to his Son. 
And the testimony is, that God 11 
gave us life eternal and this life is 
in his Son. 

He who possesses the Son pos- 12 
sesses life : 

he who does not possess the Son 
does not possess life. 

I have written in this way to 13 
you who believe in the name of the 
Son of God, that you may be sure 

* The Greek word is singular. It may be 
taken strictly, as meaning " the Son," cw 
generically as above (see the next verse). 



I. JOHN V 



14 you have life eternal. Now the 
confidence we have in him is this, 
that he listens to us whenever we 
ask anything in accordance with 
i 15 his will ; and if we know he listens 
to whatever we ask, we know we 
obtain the requests we have made 

16 to him. If anyone notices his 
brother committing a sin which 
is not deadly, he will ask and ob- 
tain life for him — for anyone who 
does not commit a deadly sin. 
There is such a thing as deadly 
sin ; I do not mean he is to pray for 

17 that. All iniquity is sin, but there 
are sins which are not deadly. 



We know that anyone who is 18 
born of God does not sin ; He who 
was born of God preserves him, 
and the evil One never catches 
him. 

We know that we belong to God, 19 
and that the whole world lies in 
the power of the evil One. 

We know that the Son of God 20 
has come, and has given us insight 
to know Him who is the Real God ; 
and we are in Him who is real, 
even in his Son Jesus Christ. This 
is the real God, this is life eternal. 
My dear children, keep clear of 21 
idols. 



THE SECOND EPISTLE OF 



JOHN 



1 The presbyter, to the elect Lady 
and her children whom I love in the 
Truth (and not only I but all who 

2 know the Truth) for the sake of 
the Truth which remains within us 

3 and will be with us for ever ; grace, 
mercy, peace will be with us from 
God the Father and from Jesus 
Christ the Son of the Father, in 
truth and love. 

4 I was overjoyed to find some of 
your children leading the true Life, 
as we were commanded to do by 

6 the Father. And now I entreat 
you. Lady — not as though I were 
writing you any new command, it 
is the command which we have had 
from the very beginning — let us 

6 love one another. To live by his 
commands, that is what love means : 
and the command is, live in love 
as you have learned to do from the 

7 very beginning. I say this, be- 
cause a number of impostors have 
emerged in the world, men who 
will not acknowledge the coming 



of Jesus Christ in the flesh; that 
marks the real ' impostor * and 
' antichrist.' Watch yourselves ; 8 
you must not lose what you have 
been working for, but gain a full 
reward. Anyone who is ' advanced ' 9 
and will not remain by the doctrine 
of Christ, does not possess God : 
he who remains by the doctrine 
of Christ possesses both the Father 
and the Son. If anyone comes to 10 
you and does not bring this doc- 
trine, do not admit him to the 
house — do not even greet him, for 11 
he who greets him shares in his 
wicked work. 

I have a great deal to write to 12 
you, but I do not mean to use ink 
and paper; I hope to visit you 
and have a talk with you, so that 
your * joy may be unimpaired. 

The children of your elect Sister 13 
greet you. 

♦ Reading with A B and several versions, 
ifiwv, instead of rj/xoiv. 



804 



THE THIRD EPISTLE OF 

JOHN 



1 The presbyter, to the beloved 
Gaius whom I love in the Truth. 

2 Beloved, I pray you may prosper 
in every way and keep well — as 
indeed your soul is keeping well. 

3 For I was overjoyed when some 
brothers arrived and testified to 
the truth of your life, as indeed you 

4 do lead the true Life ; I have no 
greater joy than to hear of my 

5 children living in the Truth. Be- 
loved, you are acting loyally in 
rendering any service to the bro- 
thers and especially to strangers; 

6 they have testified to your love 
before the church. Pray speed 
them on their journey worthily of 

7 God; they have started out for 
his sake and declined to take any- 

8 thing from pagans; hence we are 
bound to support such men, to 
prove ourselves allies of the Truth. 

9 I have written to the church; 
only, Diotrephes, who likes to take 



the lead among them, repudiates 
me. So when I come, I will bring 10 
up what he is doing, babbling 
against me with wdcked words — 
and, not satisfied with words, he 
refuses to welcome the brothers, 
checks those who want to welcome 
them, and excommunicates them 
from the church. Beloved, do 11 
not imitate evil but good ; he who 
does good belongs to God, he who 
does evil has never seen God. 

Everybody testifies to Deme- 12 
trius, and so does the Truth itself : 
I testify to him too, and you know 
my testimony is true. 

I had a great deal to write to 13 
you, but I do not want to write 
to you with ink and pen; I am 14 
hoping to see you soon, and we will 
have a talk. 

Peace to you ! The friends 15 
salute you : salute the friends one 
by one. 



S05 



THE EPISTLE OP 

JUDAS (JUDE) 



1 Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ 
and a brother of James, to those 
who have been called, who are 
beloved by God the Father and 

2 kept by Jesus Christ : mercy, peace 
and love be multiplied to you. 

3 Beloved, my whole concern was 
to write to you on the subject of 
our common salvation, but I am 
forced to write you an appeal to 
defend the faith which has once 
for all been committed to the 

4) saints ; for certain persons have 
slipped in by stealth (their doom 
has been predicted long ago), im- 
pious creatures who pervert the 
grace of our God into immorality 
/ and disown our sole liege and Lord, 
'^ 5 Jesus Christ. Now I want to 
remind you of what you are per- 
fectly aware, that though the Lord 
once * brought the People safe 
out of Egypt, he subsequently de- 

6 stroyed the unbeheving, while the 
angels who abandoned their own 
domain, instead of preserving their 
proper rank, are reserved by him 
within the nether gloom, in chains 
eternal, for the doom of the great 

7 Day — ^just as Sodom and Gomorra 
and the adjacent cities, which 
similarly glutted themselves with 
vice and sensual perversity, are 
exhibited as a warning of the ever- 
lasting fire they are sentenced to 

8 suffer. Despite it all, these vision- 
aries pollute their flesh, scorn the 

* &va^ must be connected, as in the 
Syriao and Egyptian versions, with trwo-as, 
not with €iS6ras as in most manuscripts. 
106 



Powers celestial, and scoff at the 
angelic Glories. Now the very arch- 9 
angel Michael, when he disputed 
the body of Moses with Satan, did 
not dare to condemn him with 
scoffs ; what he said was. The Lord 
rebuke you ! But these people 10 
scoff at anything they do not un- 
derstand; and whatever they do 
understand, like irrational animals, 
by mere instinct, that proves their 
ruin. Woe to them ! they go the 11 
road of Cain, rush into Balaam's 
error for what it brings them, and 
perish in Korah's rebelUon. These 12 
people are stains on your love- 
feasts ; they have no qualms about 
carousing in your midst, they look 
after none but themselves — rainless 
clouds, swept along by the wind, 
trees in autumn without fruit, 
doubly dead and so uprooted, wild 13 
waves foaming out their own 
shame, wandering stars for whom 
the nether gloom of darkness has 
been reserved eternally. It was of 14 
these, too, that Enoch the seventh 
from Adam prophesied, when he 
said. 

Behold the Lord comes with my- 
riads of his holy ones, 
to execute judgment upon all, 15 

and to convict all the impious 
of all the impious deeds they have 

committed, 

and of all the harsh things said 

against him by impious sinners. 

For these people are murmurers, 16 

grumbling at their lot in life — ^they 

fall in with their own passions, their 



JUDAS (JUDE) 



talk is arrogant, they pay court 
to men to benefit themselves. 

17 Now, beloved, you must re- 
member the words of the apostles 

18 of our Lord Jesus Christ ; they 
told you beforehand, " At the end 
of things there will be mockers who 
go by their own impious passions." 

19 These are the people who set up 
divisions and distinctions, sensuous 
creatures, destitute of the Spirit. 

20 But do you, beloved, build up your- 
selves on your most holy faith and 

21 pray in the holy Spirit, so keeping 
yourselves witlun the love of God 
and waiting for the mercy of our 
Lord Jesus Christ that ends in life 



eternal. Snatch some from the fire, 22 
and have mercy on the waverers, 23 
♦trembling as you touch them, with 
loathing for tihe garment which the 
flesh has stained. 

Now to him who is able to keep 24 
you from slipping and to make you 
stand unblemished and exultant 
before his glory — to the only God, 25 
our saviour through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, be glory, majesty, power 
and authority, before all time and 
now and for all time : Amen. 



* Reading koI ots fiev 4k wphs apircf^ere, 
SiaKpivo/jLh'ovs 56 ^\«aT«, with SyrP^^^ Clement 
and Jerome. 



S07 



THE EEYELATION 



OF ST. JOHN 



OHA». 

1 A REVELATION by Jesus Christ, 
which God granted him for his 
servants, to show them what must 
come to pass very soon; he dis- 
closed it by sending it through his 

2 angel to his servant John, who now 
testifies to what is God's word and 
Jesus Christ's testimony — ^to what 

3 he saw. Blessed is he who reads 
aloud, blessed they who hear the 
words of this prophecy and lay to 
heart what is written in it; for the 
time is near. 

4 John to the seven churches in 
Asia : grace be to you and peace 
from HE WHO IS and was and is 
COMING, and from the seven Spirits 

5 before his throne, and from Jesus 
Christ the faithful witness, the first- 
born from the dead, and the prince 
over the kings of earth ; to him who 
loves us and has loosed us from 

6 our sins by shedding his blood — he 
has made us a realm of priests for 
his God and Father, — ^to him be 
glory and dominion for ever and 

7 ever : Amen. Lo, he is coming on 
the clouds, to he seen by every 
eye, even by those who impaled 
him, and all the tribes of earth 
will wail because of him : even 

8 so. Amen. " / am the alpha and 
the omega," saith the Lord God, 
who is and was and is coming, the 
almighty, 

9 I John, your brother and your 
companion in the distress and realm 
and patient endurance which Jesus 
brings, found myself in the island 
called Patmos, for adhering to God's 
word and the testimony of Jesus. 

308 



On the Lord's day I found myself 10 
rapt in the Spirit, and I heard a 
loud voice behind me like a trumpet 
calling, " Write your vision in a 11 
book, and send it to the seven 
churches, to Ephesus and Smyrna 
and Pergamum and Thyatira and 
Sardis and Philadelphia and Lao- 
dicea." So I turned to see whose 12 
voice it was that spoke to me ; and 
on turning round I saw seven 
golden lampstands and in the middle 13 
of the lampstands One who re- 
sembled a human being, with a long 
robe, and a belt of gold round his 
breast; his head and hair were 14 
white as wool, white as snow ; his 
eyes flashed like fire, his feet glowed 15 
like burnished bronze, his voice 
sounded like many waves, in his 16 
right hand he held seven stars, a 
sharp sword with a double edge 
issued from his mouth, and his face 
shone like the sun in full strength. 
When I saw him, I fell at his feet 17 
like a dead man; but he laid his 
hand on me, saying, " Do not be 
afraid; I am the First and the 
Last,* I was dead and here I am 18 
alive for evermore, holding the 
keys that unlock death and Hades. 
Write down your vision of what is 19 
and what is to be hereafter. As for 20 
the secret symbol of the seven stars 
which you have seen in my right 
hand, and of the seven golden lamp- 
stands — ^the seven stars are the 
angels of the seven churches, and 

* The words * and the living One * {koI i 
(oiu) have been added as a gloss from th« 
next versa. 



REVELATION II 



the seven lampstands are the seven 
2 churches. To the angel of the 

church at Ephesus write thus : — 
These are the words of him who holds 
the seven stars in his right hand, 
who moves among the seven golden 

2 lampstands : I know your doings, 
your hard work and your patient 
endurance ; I know that you cannot 
bear wicked men, and that you 
have tested those who style them- 
selves apostles (no apostles they !) 
and detected them to be liars; 

3 I know that you are enduring 
patiently and have borne up for 
my sake and have not wearied. 

4 But I have this against you : you 
have given up loving one another 

5 as you did at first. Now, remem- 
ber the height from which you have 
fallen; repent and act as you did 
at first. If not, I will come to you 
[very soon] and remove your lamp- 

6 stand, unless you repent. Still, 
you have this in your favour : you 
hate the practices of theNicolaitans, 

7 and I hate them too. Let anyone 
who has an ear listen to what the 
Spirit says to the churches : ' The 
conqueror I will allow to eat from 
the tree of Life which is within the 

8 paradise of God,^ Then to the 
angel of the church at Smyrna 
write thus : — These are the words 
of the First and Last, who was dead 

9 and came to life : I know your * 
distress and your poverty (but 
you are rich!); I know how you 
are being slandered by those who 
style themselves Jews (no Jews 
are they, but a mere synagogue of 

10 Satan !). Have no fear of what you 
are to suffer. The devil indeed is 
going to put some of you in prison, 
that you may he tested ; you will 
have a distressful ten days. Be 
faithful, though you have to die 

* Omitting [rh ipya /col]. 



for it, and I \^ill give you the crown 
of Life. Let anyone who has an 11 
ear listen to what the Spirit says 
to the churches : * The conqueror 
shall not be injured by the second 
death.' Then to the angel of the 12 
church at Pergamum write thus : — 
These are the words of him who 
wields the sharp sword with the 
double edge : I know where you IS 
dwell, where Satan sits enthroned, 
and yet you adhere to my Name, 
you have not renounced your faith 
in me even during the days when 
my witness, my faithful Antipas, 
was martyred in your midst — 
where Satan dwells. But I have 14 
one or two things against you : 
you have some adherents there of 
the tenets of Balaam, who taught 
Balak how to set a pitfall before the 
sons of Israel by making them eat 
food which had been sacrificed to 
idols and give way to sexual vice. 
So even with you; you likewise 15 
have some adherents of the tenets 
of the Nicolaitans. Repent; if IC 
not, I will very soon come to you 
and make war upon them with the 
sword of my mouth. Let anyone 17 
who has an ear listen to what the 
Spirit says to the churches : ' The 
conqueror / will allow to share the 
hidden manna, and I will give him 
a white stone inscribed with a new 
name, unknown to any except him 
who receives it.' Then to the 18 
angel of the church at Thyatira 
write thus : — These are the words 
of the Son of God, whose eyes flash 
like fire and whose feet glow like 
bronze, I know your doings, your 19 
love and loyalty and service and 
patient endurance ; I know you are 
doing more than you did at first. 
Still I have this against you : 20 
you are tolerating that Jezebel 
of a woman who styles herself a 

309 



REVELATION III 



prophetess and seduces my servants 
by teaching them to give way to 
sexual vice and to eat food which has 

21 been sacrificed to idols, I have given 
her time to repent, but she refuses 

22 to repent of her sexual vice. Lo, I 
will lay her on a sickbed, and bring 
her paramours into sore distress, 
if they do not repent of her prac- 

23 tices ; and her children I will ex- 
terminate. So shall all the churches 
know that I am the searcher of the 
inmost heart ; I will requite each of 
you according to what you have done, 

24 But for the rest of you at Thyatira, 
for all who do not hold these tenets, 
for those who have not (in their 
phrase) 'fathomed the deep mys- 
teries of Satan' — ^for you this is 
my word : I impose no fresh burden 

25 on you ; only hold to what you have, 
till such time as I come. ' And the 

26 conqueror, he who till the end lays 
to heart what I enjoin, / will give 
him authority over the nations — 

27 aye, he will shepherd them with an 

iron flail, 
shattering them like a patterns 
jars — 
as I myself have received authority 

28 from my Father ; also I will grant 
him to see the Morning-star.' Let 
anyone who has an ear listen to 
what the Spirit says to the churches. 

3 Then to the angel of the church 
at Sardis write thus : — These are 
the words of him who holds the 
seven Spirits of God and the seven 
stars : I know your doings, you 
have the name of being alive, but 

2 you are dead. Wake up, rally what 
is still left to you, though it is on 
the very point of death ; for I find 
nothing you have done is complete 

8 in the eyes of my God. Now 

remember what you received and 

heard, hold to it and repent. If 

you will not wake up, I will come 

310 



like a thief ; you will not know at 
what hour I come upon you. 
Still, you have a few souls at Sardis 4 
who have not soiled their raiment ; 
they will walk beside me in white, 
for they deserve to. * The conqueror 5 
will be clad in white raiment; I 
will never erase his name from the 
hook of Life, but will own him 
openly before my Father and before 
his angels.' Let anyone who has 6 
an ear listen to what the Spirit says 
to the churches. Then to the 7 
angel of the church at Philadelphia 
write thus : — These are the words 
of the true Holy One, who holds 
the key of David, who opens and none 
shall shut, who shuts and none shall 
open.* Lo, I have set a door open 8 
before you which no one is able to 
shut; for though your strength is 
small, you have kept my word, you 
have not renounced my Name. 
Lo, I will make those who belong 9 
to that synagogue of Satan, who 
style themselves Jews (no Jews 
are they, but liars !) — lo, I will have 
them come and do homage before 
your feet and learn that / did love 
you. Because you have kept the 10 
word of my patient endurance, I 
will keep you safe through the hour 
of trial which is coming upon the 
whole world to test the dwellers 
on earth. I am coming very soon : 1 1 
hold to what you have, in case your 
crown is taken from you. * As for 12 
the conqueror, I will make him a 
pillar in the temple of my God 
(nevermore will he leave it), and 
I will inscribe on him the name of 
my God, the name of the city of my 
God (the new Jerusalem which 
descends out of heaven from my 

* Omitting (with Primasius) oIScC aov rh 
tpya, * I know your doings,' a harmonistio 
gloss which interrupts the connexion of 
thought. 



REVELATION IV 



God), and my own new name,'* 

13 Let anyone v^ho has an ear listen 
to what the Spirit says to the 

14 churches. Then to the angel of 
the church at Laodicea write thus : 
These are the words of the Amen, 
the faithful and true witness, the 

15 origin of God's creation. I know 
your doings, you are neither cold 
nor hot — would you were either 

16 cold or hot ! So, because you are 
lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, 
I am going to spit you out of my 

17 mouth. You declare, * I am rich, 
/ am well off, I lack nothing ! ' — 
not knovvdng you are a miserable 
creature, pitiful, poor, blind, naked. 

18 I advise you to buy from me gold 
refined in the fire, that you may be 
rich, white raiment to clothe you 
and prevent the shame of your 
nakedness from being seen, and 
salve to rub on your eyes, that you 

19 may see. / reprove and discipline 
those whom I love ; so be in warm 

20 earnest and repent. Lo, I stand 
at the door and knock; if anyone 
hears my voice and opens the door, 
I will come in and sup with him, 

21 and he with me. * The conqueror 
I will allow to sit beside me on 
my throne, as I myself have con- 
quered and sat down beside my 

22 Father on his throne.' Let any- 
one who has an ear listen to what 
the Spirit says to the churches." 

OHAP. 

4 After this I looked, and there 
was a door standing open in heaven ! 
And the first voice I had heard 
talking vrith me Hke a trumpet said, 
" Come up here, and I will show 
you what must come to pass after 

2 this." At once I found myself 
rapt in the Spirit ; and lo a Throne 
stood in heaven with Owe seated on 

8 the throne — the seated One re- 



sembled in appearance jasper and 
sardius — and round the throne a 4 
rainbow resembling emerald in 
appearance; also round the throne 
four and twenty thrones, and on 
these thrones four and twenty 
Presbyters seated, who were clad 
in wliite raiment with golden 
crowns upon their heads. From 5 
the throne issue flashes of lightning 
and loud blasts and peals of thunder. 
And in front of the throne seven 6 
torches of fire burn (they are the 
seven Spirits of God); also in front 
of the throne there is like a sea of 
glass, resembling crystal. And on 
each side of the throne, all round it, 
four living Creatures full of eyes 
inside and outside; the first living 7 
Creature resembling a lion, the 
second living Creature resembling 
an ox, the third living Creature with 
a face like a man's, the fourth living 
Creature like a flying eagle. The 8 
four living Creatures, each with 
six wings apiece, are full of eyes all 
over their bodies and under their 
wings, and day and night they 
never cease the chant, 

" Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God 
almighty, 

who was and is and is coming." 
And whenever the living Creatures 9 
render glory and honour and 
thanksgiving to him who is seated 
on the throne, who lives for ever 
and ever, the four and twenty 10 
Presbyters fall down before him 
who is seated on the throne, wor- 
shipping him who lives for ever and 
ever, and casting their crovms before 
the throne, with the cry, 
*' Thou deservest, our Lord and 11 

God,* to receive glory and 

honour and power, 
for it was thou who didst create 

ail things : 

* Omitting [b aytos]. 

311 



REVELATION V, VI 



tEey existed and were created 
by thy will." 

CHAP. 

5 Then I saw lying on the right 
hand of him who was seated on the 
throne, a scroll with writing on the 
back as well as inside, sealed with 

2 seven seals. And I saw a strong 
angel exclaiming wdth a loud voice, 
" Who is fit to open the scroll, to 

8 break the seals of it ? " But no 
one was fit, either in heaven or on 
earth or underneath the earth, to 
open the scroll or look into it. 

4 So I began to weep bitterly 
because no one had been found 
fit to open the scroll or look into 

5 it ; but one of the Presbyters told 
me, " Weep not ; lo, the Lion of 
JudaKs tribe, the Scion of David, 
he has won * the power of opening 
the scroll and its seven seals." 

6 Then I noticed a Lamb standing 
in the midst of the throne and the 
four living Creatures and the 
Presbyters; it seemed to have 
been slain, but it had seven heads 
and seven eyes (they are the seven 
Spirits of God sent out into all 

7 the earth), and it went and took 
the scroll out of the right hand of 
him who was seated on the throne, 

8 And when it took the scroll, the 
four living Creatures and the four 
and twenty Presbyters fell down 
before the Lamb, each with his 
harp and with golden bowls full of 
incense (that is, full of the prayers 

9 of the saints), singing a new song : 
" Thou deservest to take the scroll 

and open its seals, 
for thou wast slain and by 
shedding thy blood hast ran- 
somed for God men from every 
tribe and tongue and people 
and nation ; 

• Literally, " has conquered (see iii. 21), 
BO that he can open." 
312 



thou hast made them kings and 10 
priests for our God, and they 
shall reign on earth." 
Then I looked, and I heard the 11 
voice of many angels round the 
throne and of the living Creatures 
and of the Presbyters, numbering 
myriads of myriads and thousands 
of thousands, crying aloud, " The 12 
slain Lamb deserves to receive 
power and wealth and wisdom and 
might and honour and glory and 
blessing." And I heard every 13 
creature in heaven and on earth 
and under the earth crying, " Bless- 
ing and honour and glory and 
dominion for ever and ever, to 
him who is seated on the throne 
and to the Lamb!" " Amen," 14 
said the four living Creatures, and «i 
the Presbyters fell down and wor- ■! 
shipped. " 

And when the Lamb opened one 6 
of the seven seals, I looked, and I 
heard one of the four living Crea- 
tures calling like thunder, "Come."t 
So I looked, and there was a white 2 
horse, its rider holding a bow; he 
was given a crown, and away he 
rode conquering and to conquer. 

And when he opened the second 8 
seal, I heard the second living 
Creature calling, " Come." And 4 
away went another red horse ; its 
rider was allowed to take peace 
from the earth and to make men 
slay each other; he was given a 
huge sword. 

And when he opened the third 5 
seal, I heard the third living 
Creature calling, " Come." So I 
looked and there was a black horse ; 
its rider held a pair of scales in his 
hand, and I heard like a voice in 6 
the midst of the four living Crea- 
tures saying, " A shilling for a - 

t Addressed either to the seer or, more prob- 
ably, to the mounted figures. 



REVELATION VII 



quart of wheat, a shilling for three 
quarts of barley; but harm not 
oil and wine ! " 

7 And when he opened the fourth 
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth 

8 living Creature calling, "Come." 
So I looked, and there was a livid 
horse; its rider's name was Death, 
and Hades followed him. They 
were given power over the fourth 
part of the earth, to Mil men with 
sword and famine and plague and 
by the wild beasts of the earth. 

9 And when he opened the fifth 
seal, I saw underneath the altar 
the souls of those who had been 
slain for adhering to God's word 
and to the testimony which they 

10 bore ; and they cried aloud, " 
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how 
long wilt thou refrain from charging 
and avenging our blood upon those 

11 who dwell on earth ? " But they were 
each given a white robe, and told 
to remain quiet for a little longer, 
until their number was completed 
by their fellow-servants and their 
brothers who were to be killed like 
themselves. 

12 And when he opened the sixth 
seal, I looked ; and a great earth- 
quake took place, the sun turned 
black as sackcloth, the full moon 

13 turned like blood, the stars of the 
sky dropped to earth as a fig tree 
shaken by a gale sheds her unripe 

14 figs, the sky was swept aside like 
a scroll being folded up, and every 
mountain and island was moved 

15 out of its place. Then the kings 
of the earth, the magnates, the 
generals, the rich, the strong, 
slaves and freemen everyone of 
them, hid in caves and among the 

16 rocks of the mountains, calling 
to the mountains and the rocks, 
" Fall upon us and hide us from 
the face of him who is seated on 



the throne and from the anger of 
the Lamb ; for the great Day of their 17 
anger has come, and who can stand 
itr' 

After that I saw four angels 7 
standing at the four corners of the 
earth, holding back the four winds 
from blowing on the earth or on the 
sea or on any tree. And I saw 2 
another angel rise up from the 
east, with the seal of the living 
God; he shouted aloud to the 
four angels who were allowed to 
injure the earth and sea, " Do no 3 
harm to earth or sea or trees, until 
we seal the servants of our God 
upon their foreheads,'*'' And I heard 4 
what was the number of the sealed 
— a. hundred and forty-four thou- 
sand sealed from every tribe of 
the sons of Israel, twelve thousand 5 
sealed from the tribe of Judah, 
twelve thousand from the tribe of 
Reuben, twelve thousand from the 7 
tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand 
from the tribe of Levi, twelve 
thousand from the tribe of Issachar, 
twelve thousand from the tribe 8 
of Zebulun, twelve thousand from 
the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand 
from the tribe of Benjamin * [twelve 
thousand from the tribe of Gad, 
twelve thousand from the tribe of 6 
Asher, twelve thousand from the 
tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand 
sealed from the tribe of Manasseh.] 

After that I looked, and there 9 
was a great host whom no one 
could count, from every nation 
and tribe and people and tongue, 
standing! before the throne and 
before the Lamb, clad in white 
robes, with palm-branches in their 

* The simple transposition of 5o-6 to a 
place after 8, as Dr. G. B. Gray has pointed 
out {Encyclopaedia Biblica 6209), yields a fau 
more normal list of the tribes. 

t In contrast to the dread of vi 17, and in 
line with the thought of Luke xzi. 36. 

313 



REVELATION VIII 



10 hands ; and they cried with a loud 
voice, " Saved by our God who is 
seated on the throne, and by the 

11 Lamb ! " And all the angels sur- 
rounded the throne and the Presby- 
ters and the four living Creatures, 
and fell on their faces before the 

12 throne, worshipping God and cry- 
ing, " Even so ! Blessing and glory 
and wisdom and thanksgiving and 
honour and power and might be 
to our God for ever and ever : 

13 Amen I " Then one of the Presby- 
ters addressed me, saying, " Who 
are these, clad in white robes? 

14 where have they come from? " I 
said to him, " You know, my 
lord." So he told me, " These are 
the people who have come out of 
the great Distress, who washed their 
robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb. 

15 For this they are now before 

the throne of God, 
serving* him day and night 

within his temple, 
and he who is seated on the throne 

shall overshadow them. 

16 Never again will they hunger, 

never again will they thirst, 
never shall the sun strike them, 
nor any scorching heat ; 

17 for the Lamb in the midst of the 

throne will be their shepherd, 
guiding them to fountains of 

living water ; 
and God will wipe every tear 

from their eyes,''^ 

CISLAS, 

8 And when he opened the seventh 
seal, silence reigned in heaven for 

2 about half-an-hour. Then I saw 
seven trumpets being given to the 
seven angels who stand before God. 

3 And another angel went and stood 
at the altar with a golden censer; 

* In tho sense of woiship, as in xziL 3. 
814 



he was given abundant incense, 
to be laid with the prayers of all 
the saints upon the golden altar in 
front of the throne ; and the smoke 4 
of the incense with the prayers of all 
the saints rose up from the angel's 
hand before God. And the angel 5 
took the censer, filled it with fire 
from the altar, and poured it on 
the earth; then followed peals of 
thunder, loud blasts, flashes of light- 
ning, and an earthquake. And 6 
the seven angels with the seven 
trumpets prepared to blow their 
blasts. The first blew, and there 7 
came hail and fire mixed with blood, 
falling on the earth ; a third of the 
earth was burnt up, a third of 
the trees were burnt up, and all 
the green grass was burnt up. The 8 
second angel blew, and what looked 
like a huge mountain on fire was 
hurled into the sea ; a third of the 
sea turned blood, a third of the 9 
creatures in the sea — the living 
creatures — perished, and a third 
of the ships were destroyed. The 
third angel blew, and a huge star 
blazing like a torch dropped out of 
the sky, dropped on a third of the 
rivers and on the fountains (the 
name of the star is Wormwood); 
a third of the waters became worm- 
wood, and many people died of the 
waters, because they had turned 
bitter. The fourth angel blew; 
and a stroke fell on a third of the 
sun, a third of the moon, and a 
third of the stars, so as to darken 
one third of them, withdrawing 
light from a third of the day and 
likewise of the night. 

Then I looked, and I heard an 13 
eagle flying in mid-heaven with a 
loud cry, "Woe, woe, woe to the 
dwellers on earth, for the rest of 
the trumpet-blasts that the three 
angels are about to blow ! " 



10 



11 



12 



REVELATION IX, X 



OHAP. 



9 The fifth angel blew, and I saw 
a Star which had dropped from 
heaven to earth ; he was given the 

2 key of the pit of the abyss, and 
he opened the pit of the abyss, 
and smoke poured out of the pit, 
like the smoke of a huge furnace, 
till the sun and the air were darkened 

3 by the smoke from the pit. And 
out of the smoke came locusts on 
the earth ; they were granted power 
hke the power wielded by scorpions 

4 on earth, but they were told not to 
harm the grass on earth nor any 
green thing nor any tree, only such 
human beings as had not the seal 

5 of God upon their foreheads ; these 
they were allowed, not to kill but 
to torture, for five months — and 
their torture was like the torture 
of a scorpion when it stings a man. 

6 In those days men will seek death, 

hut they will not find it : 
they will long to die, 

but death flies from them. 

7 The appearance of the locusts 
resembled horses armed for battle ; 
on their heads were sort of crowns 
like gold; their faces were like 

8 human faces, their hair like women's 
hair, and their teeth like lions^ fangs ; 

9 they had scales like iron coats of 
mail; the whirring of their wings 
was like the noise of many chariots 

10 rushing to battle ; their tails and 
their stings were like scorpions', 
and their power of hurting men 
for five months lay in their tails ; 

11 they had a king over them, the 
angel of the abyss — his Hebrew 
name is Abaddon, but in Greek he 
is called Apollyon. 

12 The first woe has passed : 
two woes are still to come. 

13 Then the sixth angel blew ; and 
I heard a voice from the four 
horns of the golden altar before 



God, telling the sixth angel with 14 
the trumpet, " Let loose the four 
angels who are bound at the great 
river Euphrates,''^ So the four 15 
angels were unloosed, who had been 
kept ready for that hour and day 
and month and year, to kill the 
third of men. And the number 16 
of the troops of their cavalry was 
two hundred millions (I heard 
what was their number). And 17 
this is how the horses and their 
riders looked in my vision : they 
wore coats of mail red as fire, 
dark-blue as jacinth and yellow as 
smoke; the horses' heads were 
like lions' heads, and from their 
mouths poured fire and smoke 
and brimstone. By these three 18 
plagues the third of men were 
killed, by the fire, the smoke, and 
the brimstone, that poured out of 
their mouths ; for the power of 19 
the horses lies in their mouths — 
and also in their tails (their tails 
are like serpents, they have heads, 
and it is with their heads that 
they hurt). But the rest of man- 20 
kind, who were not killed by these 
plagues, did not repent of the 
works of their hands and give up wor- 
shipping daemons and idols of gold 
and silver and brass and stone and 
wood, which cannot either see or hear 
or stir ; nor did they repent of their 21 
murders or of their magic spells or 
of their sexual vice or of their thefts. 

OHAP. 

Then I saw another* strong angel 10 
descend from heaven ; he was clad 
in a cloud, with a rainbow over 
his head, his face like the sun, his 
feet like columns of fire, and a 2 
small scroll open in his hand. He 
set his right foot on the sea, his 

* Referring to v. 2, in all probability; 
but it may simply mean, *' another angel, a 
strong one," 

315 



REVELATION XI 



8 left upon the earth, and shouted 
aloud like a lion roaring; and 
at his shout the seven thunders 

4 gave voice. After the seven 
thunders had spoken, I was going 
to write it down; but I heard a 
voice from heaven saying, " Seal 
up what the seven thunders have 

5 said, do not write it." Then the 
angel I saw standing on the sea 
and the earth raised his right hand 

6 to heaven and swore by Him who 
lives for ever and ever, who created 
the heaven and what is in it, the 
earth and what is in it, and the sea 
and what is in it, " There shall be 

7 no more delay; in the days of the 
seventh angel's voice, when he 
now blows his blast, then shall 
the secret purpose of God be fulfilled, 
as he assured his servants the 

8 prophets J*^ Then the voice I had 
heard from heaven again talked 
to me, saying, " Go and take the 
small scroll which lies open in the 
hand of the angel who is standing 

9 on the sea and the earth." So I 
went to the angel, saying, " Give 
me the small scrolV^ " Take it," 
said he, " and swallow it ; it will 
taste sweet as honey, but it will be 

10 bitter to digest.'" Then I took 
the small scroll from the hand of 
the angel and swallowed it ; it did 
taste sweet, like honey, but when 
I had eaten it, it was bitter to 

11 digest. Then I was told, ''''You must 
prophesy again of many peoples and 
nations and languages and kings. ''^ 

11 And I was given a reed like a rod, 
and told, " Rise up and measure 
the temple of God and the altar, 

2 numbering the worshippers ; but 
omit the court outside the temple, 
do not measure that, for it has been 
given over to the Gentiles ; and 
the city will be under their heel for 

3 two and forty months. But I will 

316 



allow my two witnesses to prophesy 
for twelve hundred and sixty days, 
clad in sackcloth (they are the 
two olive-trees and the two lamp- 
stands which stand before the Lord 
of the earth) : 

whoever tries to harm them, 
fire will issue from their mouth 
and consume their enemies ; 

whoever should try to harm them, 
so must he be killed." 
They have power to shut up the 
sky, so that no rain falls during 
the days when they are prophesy- 
ing; and they have power over 
the waters, to turn them into blood, 
and also to smite the earth with all 
manner of plagues as often as they 
choose. But, when they have 
finished their testimony, the Beast 
that ascends from the abyss will make 
war on them and conquer them and 
kill them, and their corpses will 
lie in the streets of that great 
City whose mystical name is Sodom 
and Egypt — where their Lord also 
was crucified. For three days and 
a half, men from all peoples and 
tribes and tongues and nations 
look at their corpses, refusing to let 
their corpses be buried ; and the 
dwellers on earth vdll gloat over 
them and rejoice, sending presents 
to congratulate one another — ^for 
these two prophets were a torment 
to the dwellers on earth. But 
after three days and a half the 
breath of life from God entered 
them; they stood on their feet 
(terror fell on those who saw them) 
and heard a loud voice from heaven 
telling them, " Come up here." 
So up to heaven they went in a cloud, 
before the eyes of their enemies. 
At that hour a great earthquake 
took place, a tenth of the City 
was destroyed, and seven thousand 
souls perished in the earthquake : 



i 



10 



11 



12 



13 



REVELATION XII 



the rest were awestruck, and gave 
glory to the God of heaven. 

14 The second woe has passed : 
the third woe soon is coming. 

15 Then the seventh angel blew; 
and loud voices followed in heaven, 
crying, " The rule of the world has 
passed to our Lord and his Christ, 
and he shall reign for ever and 

16 ever.'' Then the four and twenty 
Presbyters who are seated on their 
thrones before God, fell on their 
faces and worshipped God, saying, 

17 " We thank thee. Lord God 

almighty, who art and wast, 
that thou hast assumed thy great 
power and begun to reign ; 

18 the nations were enraged, 
but thine anger has come ; 

the time has come for the dead 
to be judged, 

the time for rewarding thy ser- 
vants the "prophets, 

and the saints who reverence thy 
name, both low and high, 

the time for destroying the de- 
stroyers of the earth." 

19 Then the temple of God in 
heaven was thrown open, and the 
ark of his covenant was seen inside 
his temple; there were flashes of 
lightning, loud blasts, peals of 
thunder, an earthquake, and a hail- 

12 storm. And a great portent was 
seen in heaven, a woman clad in 
the sun — with the moon under her 
feet, and a tiara of twelve stars 

2 on her head ; she was with child, 
crying in the pangs of travail, in 

8 anguish for her delivery. Then 
another portent was seen in heaven ! 
There was a huge red dragon, with 
seven heads and seven horns and 

4 seven diadems upon his heads ; his 
tail swept away a third of the stars 
of heaven and flung them to the 
earth. And the dragon stood in 
front of the woman who was on 



the point of being delivered, to 
devour her child as soon as it was 
born. She gave birth to a son, a 5 
male child, who is to shepherd all 
the nations with an iron flail ; her 
child was caught up to God and to 
his throne, and she herself fled to 6 
the desert, where a place has been 
prepared for her by God, in which 
she is to be nourished for twelve 
hundred and sixty days. And war 7 
broke out in heaven, Michael and 
his angels fighting with the dragon ; 
the dragon and his angels also 
fought, but he failed, and there 8 
was no place for them in heaven 
any longer. So the huge dragon 9 
was thrown down — ^that old serpent 
called the Devil and Satan, the 
seducer of the whole world — thrown 
down to the earth, and his angels 
thrown down along with him. 
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven 10 
saying, " Now it has come, the 
salvation and power, the reign of 
our God and the authority of his 
Christ ! — for the Accuser of our 
brothers is thrown down, who 
accused them before God day and 
night. But they have conquered 11 
him by the blood of the Lamb and 
by the word of their testimony; 
they had to die for it, but they did 
not cling to life. Rejoice for this, 12 
heavens and ye that dwell in 
them ! But woe to earth and sea ! 
The devil has descended to you 
in fierce anger, knowing that his 
time is short." And when the 13 
dragon found himself thrown down 
to earth, he pursued the woman 
who had given birth to the male 
child; but the woman was given 14 
the two wings of a great eagle 
for her flight to the desert, to her 
appointed place, where she is 
nourished for a Time, two Times, 
and half a Time, safe from the 

317 



REVELATION XIII 



15 serpent. Then from his mouth 
the serpent poured water after 
the woman like a river, to sweep 

16 her away with a flood; but the 
earth came to the rescue of the 
woman, the earth opened its mouth 
and swallowed up the river that 
the dragon had poured out of his 

17 mouth. So, enraged at the woman, 
the dragon went off to wage war on 
the rest of her offspring, on those 
who keep God's commandments 
and hold the testimony of Jesus. 

18 Then I stood on the sand of the 
13 sea, and I saw a Beast rising out 

of the sea with ten horns and seven 
heads, ten diadems * on his horns, 
and blasphemous titles on his 

2 heads. The Beast I saw resembled 
a leopard, his feet were like a beards, 
and his mouth like a lion's. To him 
the dragon gave his own power and 
his own throne and great authority. 

3 One of his heads looked as if it had 
been slain and killed, but the deadly 
wound was healed, and the whole 
earth went after him in wonder, 
worshipping the dragon for having 
given authority to the Beast, and 

4 worshipping the Beast with the cry, 
" Who is like the Beast ? 

Who can fight with him ? " 

5 He was allowed to utter loud and 
blasphemous vaunts, and allowed 
to exert authority for two and forty 

6 months ; so he opened his mouth 
for blasphemies against God, to 
blaspheme his name and his dwell- 
ing (that is, the dwellers in heaven). 

7 He was allowed to wage war on the 
saints and to conquer them, and 
given authority over every tribe 
and people and tongue and nation ; 

8 and all the dwellers on earth will 
be his worshippers, everyone whose 

* Here, as in xiL 3, an assumption of the 
royal power which really belonged to God 
(see xix. 12). 
31§ 



name has not been written from 
the foundation of the world in ike 
hook of Life.'\ Let anyone who has 9 
an ear listen : — 

Whoever is destined for captivity^ 10 
to captivity he goes : 

whoever kills with the sword, 
by the sword must he be killed. 
This is what shows the patience 
and the faith of the saints. 

Then I saw another Beast rising 11 
from the land; he had two horns 
like a lamb, but he spoke like a 
dragon. He exerts the full author- 12 
ity of the first Beast in his presence, 
causing the earth and its inhabit- 
ants to worship the first Beast, 
whose deadly wound was healed. 
He performs amazing miracles, 13 
even making fire descend from 
heaven on earth in the sight of 
men, and by dint of the miracles 14 
he is allowed to perform in presence 
of the Beast, he seduces the dwellers 
on earth; he bids the dwellers on 
earth erect a statue to the Beast 
who lived after being wounded by 
the sword, and to this statue of the 15 
Beast he was allowed to impart the 
breath of life, so that the statue 
of the Beast should actually speak. 
He has everyone put to death 
who will not worship the statue of 
the Beast, and he obliges all men, 16 
low and high, rich and poor, 
freemen and slaves alike, to have 
a mark put upon their right hand 
or their forehead, so that no one 17 
can buy or sell unless he bears the 
mark, that is the name of the 
Beast or the cipher of his name. 
Now for the gift of interpretation ! 18 
Let the discerning calculate the 
cipher of the Beast ; it is the cipher 

t The words " of the Lamb slain " (rod 
apvlov rov i(r((>ay/x4vov) are probably a gloss 
from xxi. 27. The book of Life elsewhere 
e,ppears without any such addition. 



REVELATION XIV 



of a man, and the figures are six 
hundred and sixty-six. 

CHUP. 

14 Then I looked, and there was 
the Lamb standing on mount Si on, 
and along with him a hundred and 
forty-four thousand bearing his 
name and the name of his Father 

2 written on their foreheads! And 
I heard a voice from heaven like 
the sound of many waves and the 
sound of loud thunder; the voice 
I heard was like harpists playing 

3 on their harps ; they were singing * 
a new song before the throne and 
before the four living Creatures 
and the Presbyters, and no one 
could learn that song except the 
hundred and forty-four thousand 
who had been ransomed from earth. 

4 They have not been defiled by 
intercourse with women — ^they are 
ceUbates; they follow the Lamb 
wherever he goes ; they have been 
ransomed from among men, as the 
first to be reaped for God and the 

5 Lamb. And on their lips no lie was 
ever detected^; they are stainless. 

6 Then I saw another angel flying in 
mid-heaven with an eternal gospel 
for the inhabitants of the earth, 
for every nation and tribe and 

7 tongue and people ; he cried aloud, 
" Fear God and give him glory, for 
the hour of his judgment has come ; 
worship him who made heaven and 
earthy the sea and the fountains of 

8 water." And another, a second 
angel followed, crying, " Fallen, 
fallen is Babylon the great, who made 
all nations drink the wine of the 

9 passion of her vice ! " They were 
followed by another, a third angel, 
crying aloud, " Whoever worships 

* Omitting [ws]. 

f The thought and phraseology of the 
whole passage should be compared and 
eontrasted with 1 Pet. ii. 21-22. 



the Beast and his statue, and lets 
his forehead or hand be marked, 
he shall drink the wine of God's 10 
passion, poured out untempered in 
the cup of his anger, and shall be 
tortured with fire and brimstone 
before the holy angels and before 
the Lamb : the smoke of their 11 
torture rises for ever and ever, and 
they get no rest from it, day and 
night, these worshippers of the 
Beast and his statue, and all who 
are marked with his name." This 12 
is what shows the patience of the 
saints — ^they who keep God's com- 
mands and the faith of Jesus. 

Then I heard a voice from heaven 13 
saying, " Write this : — ' Blessed are 
the dead who die in the Lord 
from henceforth! Even so, it is 
the voice of the Spirit — blessed in 
resting from their toils; for what 
they have done goes with them.' " 

Then / looked, and there was a 14 
white cloud, and seated on the 
cloud One resembling a human 
being, a golden crown upon his 
head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 
And another angel came out of the 15 
temple shouting aloud to him who 
sat upon the cloud, 
" Thrust your sickle in and reap, 

the time has come to reap, 

the harvest of earth is ripe and 
ready." 
So he who sat upon the cloud 16 
swung his sickle over the earth, 
and the earth was reaped. Then 17 
another angel came out of the 
temple, he too with a sharp sickle ; 
and another angel came from the 18 
altar — he who has power over fire 
— and called loudly to the one who 
had the sharp sickle, 
" Thrust your sharp sickle in, 

cull the clusters from the Vine 
of earth, 

for its grapes are fully ripe." 

318 



REVELATION XV, XVI 



19 So the angel swung his sickle on 
the earth and culled the clusters 
from the Vine of earth, flinging the 
grapes into the great winepress 

20 of God's anger ; outside the City 
was the winepress trodden, and blood 
gushed out of the winepress as high 
as a horse's bridle for the space of 
two hundred miles. 

CHAP. 

15 Then I saw another portent in 
heaven, great and marvellous : 
seven angels with seven plagues — 
the last plagues, for they complete 

2 the wrath of God. And I saw 
what was like a sea of glass mixed 
with fire, and, standing beside the 
sea of glass, those who came off 
conquerors from the Beast and 
his statue and the cipher of his 

3 name ; they had harps of God and 
they were singing the song of Moses 
the servant of God and the song 
of the Lamb — 

" Great and marvellous are thy deeds. 
Lord God almighty ! 
Just and true thy ways, 
King of nations ! 

4 Who shall not fear, Lord, and 

glorify thy name ? 
for thou alone art holy. 
Yea, all nations shall come and 
worship before thee, 
for thy judgments are disclosed." 

5 After that * I looked, and the temple 
of the tabernacle of testimony in 

6 heaven was thrown open, and out 
of the temple came the seven angels 
with the seven plagues, robed in 
pure dazzling linen, their breasts 

7 encircled with golden belts. Then 
one of the four living Creatures 
gave the seven angels seven golden 
bowls full of the wrath of God 

* That is, after the interlude of 2-4. The 
words always denote a fresh phrase or stage 
of the vision. 
320 



who lives for ever and ever; and 8 
the temple was filled with smoke 
from the glory of God and from 
his might, nor could anyone enter 
the temple till the seven plagues 
of the seven angels were over. 
Then I heard a loud voice from 16 
the temple telling the seven angels, 
" Go and pour out the seven bowls 
of the wrath of God on earth.^' So 2 
the first went off and poured his 
bowl upon the land ; and noisome, 
painful ulcers broke out on those 
who bore the mark of the Beast 
and worshipped his statue. The 3 
second poured out his bowl upon 
the sea; it turned blood like the 
blood of a corpse, and every living 
thing within the sea perished. The 4 
third poured out his bowl upon 
the rivers and fountains of water, 
and they turned blood. Then I 5 
heard the angel of the waters cry, 
" O holy One, who art and wast, 
just art thou in this thy sentence. 
They poured out the blood of saints 6 
and prophets, and thou hast given 
them blood to drink ! They deserve 
it ! " And I heard the altar cry, 7 
" Even so. Lord God almighty: 
true and just are thy sentences 
of doom.^^ 
The fourth angel poured out his 8 
bowl upon the sun; and the sun 
was allowed to scorch men with 
fire, till men, scorched by the 9 
fierce heat, blasphemed the name 
of the God who had control of 
these plagues; yet they would 
not repent and give him glory. 
The fifth poured out his bowl upon 10 
the throne of the Beast ; his realm 
was darkened, and men gnawed 
their tongues in anguish, blasphem- 11 
ing the God of heaven for their pains 
and their ulcers, but refusing to 
repent of their doings. The sixth 12 
poured out his bowl on the great 



REVELATION XVII 



river Euphrates, and its waters 
were dried up to prepare the way 

13 for the kings from the east. Then 
I sav7 issuing from the mouth of 
the dragon and from the mouth 
of the Beast and from the mouth 
of the false Prophet, three foul 

14 spirits like frogs — demon-spirits 
performing miracles, who come out 
to muster the kings of the whole 
world for battle on the great Day 

15 of almighty God. (Lo, I am coming 
like a thief; blessed be he who 
keeps awake and holds his raiment 
fast, not to go naked and have the 

16 shame of exposure !) * And they 
were mustered at the spot called 

17 (in Hebrew) Harmagedon. The 
seventh angel poured out his bowl 
in the air ; then came a loud voice 
out of the temple of heaven from 
the throne, crying, " All is over ! " 

18 followed by flashes of lightning, 
loud blasts, peals of thunder, and 
a mighty earthquake, the like of 
which never was since man lived 
on earth, such a mighty earthquake 

19 it v/as ; the great City was shattered 
in three parts, the cities of the 
nations fell, and God remembered 
to give Babylon the great the cup 
of the wine of the passion of his 

20 anger. Every island fled away, 

21 the mountains disappeared, and 
huge hailstones fell from heaven 
on men, till men blasphemed God 
for the plague of the hail — ^for 
the plague of it was fearful. 

OHAP. 

17 Then came one of the seven 
angels with the seven plagues and 
spoke to me, saying, " Come and 
I will show you the doom of the 
great Harlot who is seated on 
2 many waters, with whom the kings 

* Ver. 15 interrupts the sequence of 
thought; it is either a gloss or misplaced, 
perhaps from the third chapter. 



of earth have committed vice, and 
the dwellers on earth have been 
drunk with the wine of her vice." 3 
So he bore me away rapt in the 
Spirit to the desert, and I saw a 
woman sitting on a scarlet Beast 
covered with blasphemous titles; 
it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 
The woman was clad in purple 
and scarlet, her ornaments were of 
gold and precious stones and pearls, 
in her hand was a golden cup 
full of all abominations and the 
impurities of her vice, and on her 5 
forehead a name was written by 
way of symbol, " Babylon the 
great, the mother of harlots and of 
all abominations on earth." Then 6 
I saw the woman was drunk with 
the blood of the saints and the 
blood of the witnesses of Jesus; 
and as I looked at her I marvelled 
greatly. But the angel said to 7 
me, " Why marvel ? I will ex- 
plain to you the mystery of the 
woman, and of the Beast with the 
seven heads and the ten horns 
who carries her. The Beast you 8 
have seen was, is not, but is to 
rise from the abyss — yet to perdition 
he shall go — and the dwellers on 
earth wdll wonder (all whose names 
have not been written from the 
foundation of the world in the 
book of Life), when they see that 
the Beast was, is not, but is 
coming. Now for the interpreta- 9 
tion of the discerning mind ! The 
seven heads are seven hills, on 
which the woman is seated : also, 10 
they are seven kings, of whom 
five have fallen, one is living, and 
the other has not arrived yet — 
and when he does arrive, he can 
only stay a little while. As for II 
the Beast which was and is not, 
he is an eighth head; he belongs 
to the seven, and to perdition he 

321 



REVELATION XVIII 



12 shall go. As for the ten horns you 
have seen, they are ten kings who 
have no royal power as yet, but 
receive royal authority for an 

13 hour along with the Beast; they 
are of one mind, and they confer 
their power and authority upon 

14 the Beast. They will wage war 
on the Lamb, but the Lamb will 
conquer them because he is Lord 
of lords and King of kings — ^the 
Lamb and the elect, the chosen, 
the faithful who are with him." 

15 He also told me, " The waters you 
saw, on which the woman is seated, 
are peoples and hosts, nations and 

16 tongues. As for the ten horns 
you have seen, they and the Beast 
will hate the harlot, lay her waste, 
and strip her naked; they will 
devour her flesh and burn her with 

17 fire, for God has put it into their 
hearts to execute his purpose, by 
having one mind and by conferring 
their royal power upon the Beast, 
until the words of God are fulfilled. 

18 As for the woman you have seen, 
she is the great City which reigns 
over the kings of the earth." * 

18 After that I saw another angel 
descend from heaven, great in 
might; his radiance lit up the 

2 earth, and he shouted aloud with 
a strong voice, 

''Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, 
now she is a haunt of demons, 
the den of all foul spirits, 
a cage for every foul and loath- 
some bird : 

3 for all nations have drunk the 

wine of the passion of her vice, 
the kings of the earth have com- 
mitted vice with her, 
and by the wealth of her wanton- 
ness earth's traders have grown 
rich." 

* PosBibly xix. 9-10 (« The angel also . . .") 
originally came at this place in the narrative. 
322 



And I heard another voice from 4 
heaven crying, 

" Come out of her, my people, 
that you share not her sins, 
that you partake not of her 

plagues : 
for high as heaven her sins are 5 

heaped, 
and Gk>d calls her misdeeds ta 

the reckoning. 
Render to her what she rendered 6 

to others, 
aye, double the doom for all she 

has done; 
mix her the draught double in 

the cup she mixed for others. 
As she gloried and played the 7 

wanton, 
so give her like measure of 

torture and tears. 
Since in her heart she vaunts, 

'A queen I sit, 
no widow I, tears I will never know," 
so shall her plagues fall in a S 

single day, 
pestilence, tears, and famine : 
she shall be burnt with fire — 
for strong is God the Lord her judge. 
And the kings of the earth who 9 
committed vice and wantoned with 
her will weep and wail over her, 
as they watch the smoke of her 
burning; for fear of her torture 10 
they will stand far off, crying, 
*' ' Woe and alas, thou great city I 
thou strong city of Babylon ! 
In one brief hour thy doom has 
come.' 
And the traders of earth will weep 11 
and wail over her; for now there 
is none to buy their freights, 
freights of gold, silver, jewels, 12 
pearls, fine linen, purples, silk, 
scarlet stuff, all sorts of citron 
wood and ivory wares, all articles 
of costly wood, of bronze, of iron 
and of marble, with cinnamon, 13 
balsam, spices, myrrh, frankin- 



REVELATION XIX 



cense, wines, olive-oil, fine flour 
and wheat, with cattle, sheep, 
horses, carriages, slaves, and the 

16 souls of men,* The traders in these 
wares, who made rich profits from 
her, will stand far off for fear of her 
torture, weeping and wailing : 

*Woe and alas, for the great 

city, 
robed in linen, in purple and 

scarlet, 
her ornaments of gold, of jewels 

and pearl ! 
And all this splendour gone in 

one brief hour ! ' 

17 And all shipmasters and sea- 
faring folk, sailors and all whose 
business lies upon the sea, stood 

18 far off as they watched the smoke 
of her burning, crying, ' What city 

19 was like the great City ? * They 
threw dust on their heads and cried, 
as they wept and wailed, 

' Woe and alas for the great City, 
where all shipmen made rich 

profit by her treasures ! 
Gone, gone in one brief hour I * 

20 O heaven, rejoice over her I 
Saints, apostles, prophets, re- 
joice ! 

For God has avenged you on her 
now." 

21 Then a strong angel lifted a boulder 
like a huge millstone and flung it 
into the sea, crying, 

" So shall the great city, Babylon, 
be hurled down, hurtling, 
and never be seen any more : 

22 and the sound of harpists and 

minstrels and fluteplayers 

and trumpeters 
shall never be heard in thee 

more : 
and craftsmen of any craft 
shall never be found in thee 

more : 

• Ver. 14 has been misplaced from its 
original position in the middle of ver. 23. 



and the sound of the millstone 
shall never be heard in thee 

more : 
and the light of a lamp 23 

shall never be seen in thee 

more: 
and the voice of the bridegroom 

and bride 
shall never be heard in thee 

more. 
Vanished the ripe fruit of thy 14 

soul's desire ! 
Perished thy luxviry and splen- 
dour ! 
Never again to be seen. 
For the magnates of earth were 23 

thy traders ; 
all nations were seduced by thy 

magic spells. 
And in her was found the blood 24 

of prophets and saints, 
of all who were slain upon earth,'* t 



After that I heard what was 19 
like the shout of a great host in 
heaven, crying, 

" Hallelujah ! salvation and glory 
and power are our God's ! 
True and just are his sentences of 2 
doom ; 
he has doomed the great Harlot 
who destroyed earth with 
her vice, 
he has avenged on her the blood 
of his servants, "^^ 
Again they repeated, 8 

" Hallelujah 1 And the smoke of 
her goes up for ever and ever ! " 
Then the four and twenty Presby- 4 
ters and the four living Creatures 
fell down and worshipped God who 
is seated on the throne, crying, " So 
be it, hallelujah ! " And a voice 5 
came from the throne, 
" Extol our God, all ye his servants, 

t Ver. 24, like ver. 20, links xvii. 6 to the 
outburst of zix. 2. 



REVELATION XX 



ye who reverence himy low and 
high!'' 

6 Then I heard a cry like the shout 
of a great host and the sound of 
many waves and the roar of heavy 
thunder — 

" Hallelujah ! now the Lord our 
God almighty reigns ! 

7 Let us rejoice and triumph, 
let us give him the glory ! 

For now comes the marriage of 

the Lamb ; 
his bride has arrayed herself, 

8 Yea, she is allowed to put on 

fine linen, dazzling white " 
(the white linen is the righteous 

9 conduct of the saints). Then I was 
told, " Write this : — * Blessed are 
those who have been called to the 
marriage-banquet of the Lamb ! ' " 
The angel also told me, " These 

10 are genuine words of God." Then 
I fell before his feet to worship 
him ; but he said to me, " No, not 
that ! I am but a servant like your- 
self and your brothers, who hold 
the testimony of Jesus. Worship 
God" (for the testimony borne 
by Jesus is the breath of all 
prophecy). 

11 Then I saw heaven open wide — 
and there was a white horse : 
his rider was called ' Faithful ' 

and ' True,' 
yea, just are his judgments and 
his warfare. 

12 His eyes are a flame of fire^ 

on his head are many diadems, 
he bears a written name which 
none knows but himself. 

13 He is clad in a robe dipped in 

blood 
(his name is called the logos 
OF god), 

14 and the troops of heaven follow 

him on white horses, 
arrayed in pure white linen. 
Z2A 



A sharp sword issues from his 18 

lips, wherewith to smite the 

nations ; 
he will shepherd* them with an 

iron -flail, 
and trample the winepress of the 

passion of the anger of God 

almighty. 
And on his robe, upon his thigh, li| 

his name is written. i 

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF \, 
LORDS, ! 

Then I saw an angel standing in 1^ 
the sun, who shouted aloud to all ? 
the birds that fly in mid -heaven, 
" Come, gather for the great banquet 
of God, to devour the flesh of kings, 1| 
the flesh of generals, the flesh of the | 
strong, the flesh of horses and their | 
riders, the flesh of all men free ^ 
and slaves, low and high alike." 
And I saw the Beast and the kings 19 
of earth and their troops mustered 
to wage war on him who was seated 
on the horse and on his troops. 
But the Beast was seized, together 20 
with the false Prophet who had 
performed in his presence the 
miracles by means of which he 
seduced those who received the 
mark of the Beast and worshipped 
his statue; both of them were 
flung alive into the lake of fire 
that blazes with brimstone, while 21 
the rest were killed by the sword 
of him who is seated on the horse, 
by the sword that issues from his 
lips. And all the birds were glutted 
with their flesh. 

Then I saw an angel descend 20 
from heaven with the key of the 
abyss and a huge chain in his 
hand; he gripped the dragon, 2 
that old serpent (who is the devil 

* The verb had really come to mean no 
more than "rule" by this time; but the 
literal rendering may be retained f ob the sak* 
of the antithesis in vii. 17. 



REVELATION XXI 



and Satan), and bound him for 
8 a thousand years, flinging him into 
the abyss and shutting and seahng 
it on the top of him, to prevent 
him seducing the nations again 
until the thousand ye^rs were 
completed— after which he has to 
be released for a little while. 
4 And / saw thrones with people 
sitting on them, who were allowed 
to iwdge— saw the souls of those 
who had been beheaded for the 
testimony of Jesus and Gods 
word, those who would not worship 
the Beast or his statue, and who 
would not receive his mark on 
their forehead or hand ; they came 
to life and reigned along with the 
Christ for a thousand years. As 
for the rest of the dead, they did 
not come to life until the thousand 
years were completed. This is 

6 the first resurrection. Blessed and 
holy is he who shares in the first 
resurrection ; over such the second 
death has no power, they will be 
priests of God and the Christ, and 
reign along with him dunng the 

7 thousand years. But when the 
thousand years are over, Satan 
will be released from his prison, 

8 and he will emerge to seduce the 
nations at the four corners of the 
eaHh even Gog and Magog, muster- 
ing them for the fray. Their 
number was like the sand of the sea, 

9 and they swarmed over the broad 
earth, encircling the leaguer of the 
saints and the beloved City ; but fire 
descended from heaven and con- 

10 sumed them, and their seducer, the 
devil, was flung into the lake of 
fire and brimstone, where the Beast 
and the false Prophet also he, to 
be tortured day and night for 
ever and ever. 

11 Then I saw a great white throne, 
and One who was seated thereon ; 



from his presence earth and sky fled, 

no more to be found. 
And I saw the dead, high and low, W 

standing before the throne, 
and books were opened — 
also another book, the book of 
Life, was opened — 
and the dead were judged by 
what was written in these 
books, by what they had 
done. 
The sea gave up its corpses, 18 

Death and Hades gave up their 
dead, 
and all were judged by what each 
had done. 
Then Death and Hades were 14 

flung into the lake of fire, 
and whoever was not found en- 15 
rolled in the book of Life 
was flung into the lake of 

fire— 
which is the second death, the 
lake of fire.* 
Then I saw the new heaven and 2i 
the new earth, for the first heaven 
and the first earth had passed 
away; and the sea is no more. 
And I saw the holy City, the new 2 
Jerusalem, descending from God 
out of heaven, all ready like a bride 
arrayed for her husband. And 8 
I heard a loud voice out of the 
throne, crying, . 

" Lo, God's dwelling-place is with 
men, 
with men will he dwell ; 
they will be his people, 
and God will himself he with 

them : 
he will wipe every tear from 4 

their eyes, 
and death shall be no more— 

* Unless this line is to be omitted 
altogether, it must be placed thus afte? 
ver. 15, not after 14 (as in the ordinary 
text), since there ia no question of a second 
death except for human beings. 

3iS0 



REVELATION XXI 



no more wailing or crying or pain, 
for the first things have passed 
away." 

5 Then he who was seated on the 
throne said, " Lo, / make all things 
new,^^ And he said, " Write this : 
* these words are trustworthy and 

6 genuine.* " Then he said, " All 
is over ! I am the alpha and the 
omega, the First and the Last. 
I will let the thirsty drink of the 
fountain of the water of Life without 

7 price. The conqueror will obtain 
this, and I will be his God, and he 

8 shall be my son ; but as for the 
craven, the faithless, the abomin- 
able, as for the murderers, the 
immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, 
and liars of all kinds— their lot 
is the lake that blazes with fire and 
brimstone^ which is the second 
death." 

9 Then came one of the seven 
angels who had the seven bowls 
filled with the seven last plagues ; 
and he spoke to me thus, " Come, 
and I will show you the Bride, 

10 the wife of the Lamb." So he 
I carried me off, rapt in the Spirit, 

to a huge, high mountain, where 
he showed me the City, the holy 
Jerusalem, descending from God 

11 out of heaven, with the glory of God. 
The sheen of it resembled some 
rare jewel like jasper, clear as 

12 crystal ; it has a huge, high wall 
with twelve gates, twelve angels at 
the twelve gates, and names in- 
scribed thereon which are the names 
of the twelve tribes of the sons of 

IB Israel, three gates on the east, three 
gates on the north, three gates on 
the south, and three gates on the 

14 west. And the wall of the City 
has twelve foundation-stones, bear- 
ing the twelve names of the 

16 twelve apostles of the Lamb. He 
who talked to me had a golden 
326 



wand by way of a measuring-rod. 
to measure the City and its gates 
and wall ; the City lies foursquare. Its 
the length the same as the breadth, 
and he measured fifteen hundred 
miles with his rod for the City, for 
its breadth and length and height 
alike; he made the measure of the IT 
wall seventy-two yards, by human, 
that is, by angelic reckoning. 
The material of the wall is jasper, 18 
but the City is made of pure gold, 
transparent like glass. The found- 1> 
ation-stones of the city-wall are 
adorned with all sorts of precious 
stones, the first foundation-stone 
being of jasper, the second of 
sapphire, the third of agate, the 
fourth of emerald, the fifth of 20 
onyx, the sixth of sardius, the 
seventh of chrysolite, the eighth 
of beryl, the ninth of topaz, the 
tenth of chrysoprase, the eleventh 
of jacinth, the twelfth of amethyst. 
The twelve gates are twelve pearls, 2i 
each gate made of a single pearl; 
and the streets of the City are pure 
gold, clear as crystal. But I saw 22 
no temple in the City, for its 
temple is the Lord God almighty 
and the Lamb. And the City needs 28 
no sun or moon to shine upon it, 
for the glory of God illumines it, 
and the Lamb lights it up. 

By its light will the nations walk ; 24 
and into it will the kings of earth 

bring their glories 
(the gates of it will never be shut 26 

by day, 
and night there shall be none), 
they will bring to it the glories 26 

and treasures of the nations. 
Nothing profane, none who prac- 27 

tises abomination or falsehood 

shall enter, 
but those alone whose names are 

written in the LamVs book of 

Life. 



REVELATION XXII 



22 Then he showed me the river of 
the water of Life, bright as crystal, 
flowing from the throne of God and 

2 of the Lamb through the streets 
of the City; on both sides of the 
river grew the tree of Life, bearing 
twelve kinds of fruit, each month 
having its own fruit ; and the 
leaves served to heal the nations. 

3 None who is accursed zoiU be 

there ; 

but the throne of God and the 
Lamb will be within it, 

his servants will serve and wor- 
ship him, 

4 they will see his face, 

and his name will be on their 

foreheads. 
fl Night there shall be none ; 

they will need no lamp or sun 

to shine upon them, 
for the Lord God will illumine 

them; 
and they wiU reign for ever and 

ever. 

6 And the angel said to me, " These 
words are trustworthy and genuine, 
for the Lord God of the spirits 
of the prophets has sent his angel 
to show his servants what must 

7 very soon come to pass, Lo, I am 
coming very soon; blessed is he 
who lays to heart the words of 
the prophecy of this book ! " 

8 I John saw and heard all this; 
and when I heard and saw it, I fell 
down to worship before the feet 
of the angel who had shown me 

9 it all. But he said to me, " No, 
not that ! I am but a servant like 
yourself and your brothers the 
prophets, who lay to heart the words 

10 of this book. Worship God." Then 
he said, " Do not seal up the words 
of the prophecy of this book, for 
the time is near : 

11 Let the wicked still be wicked, 
let the filthy still be filthy, 



let the righteous still do right, 

let the holy still be holy ! 

Lo, I am coming very soon, with I'l 

my reward, 
to requite everyone for what he has 

done. 
I am the alpha and the omega, 18 
the First and the Last, 
the beginning and the end. 
Blessed are those who wash their 14 
robes,* that theirs may be the right 
to the tree of Life, the right to enter 
the gates of the City! Begone, 15 
you dogs, you sorcerers, you vicious 
men, you murderers, you idolaters, 
you who love and practise false- 
hood, every one of you ! " 

** I Jesus have sent my angel to 16 
give you this testimony for the 
churches; I am the Scion and 
offspring of David, the bright star 
of the Morning." 

" Come," say the Spirit and the 17 
Bride : 
let the hearer too say, " Come " ; 
and let the thirsty come, 
let anyone who desires it, take 
the water of Life without price, 
I adjure all who hear the words 18 
of the prophecy of this book : 
" If anyone adds to them, 

God will add to him the plagues 
described in this book ; 
and if anyone removes any words 19 
written in this book, 
God will remove his share in 
the tree of Life and in the 
holy City described in this 
book." 
He who bears this testimony 20 
says, " Even so : I am coming 
very soon." Amen, Lord Jesus, 
come ! 

The grace of the Lord Jesus 21 
Christ be with you all.f Amen. 

* Reading ttXvvovt^s ras crro\iis airwv 'with 
i< A, Primasius, the Vulgate, etc. 
f Reading vivTw or Tcdvrw vfjLcty 

327 



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